SCOTLAND

Barnett Formula

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister on the operation of the Barnett formula; and if he will make a statement.

Ann McKechin: I have had recent discussions with the First Minister on a variety of matters. This Government believe that the Barnett formula has delivered stable and transparent settlements for Scotland under successive Administrations for almost 30 years.

Defence Procurement

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on defence procurement in Scotland.

Jim Murphy: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a range of matters.
	Following a substantial inquiry earlier this year, the Scottish Affairs Committee found the defence industry to be a vital part of the Scottish economy, generating nearly £2.31 billion in sales and, together with the MOD, supporting almost 50,000 jobs. Sustained UK Government investment in Scotland has played a central and significant part in this success and I will work hard to ensure that Scotland's interests continue to be heard at the highest level.

Financial Services Sector

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had on the future of the financial services sector in Scotland.

Jim Murphy: The UK Government are securing the future of the Scottish financial services sector in Scotland through the current interventions in the market it is making to deliver stability.

Regional Airports

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the future of Scotland's regional airports.

Ann McKechin: My right hon. Friend and I have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues. I met the managing director of BAA Glasgow earlier this month to discuss a range of issues. Both my right hon. Friend and I have also been in contact with BA concerning their cabin crew based in Scotland.

Banking Sector

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the banking industry in Scotland.

Jim Murphy: I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend. The Scottish banking system is now well placed to combat these difficult times after the significant intervention by this Government to stabilise the market.

Economic Situation

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent assessment he has made of the prospects for the Scottish economy.

Jim Murphy: The UK Government have taken decisive action to support both the banking sector in Scotland and to boost demand and confidence in the Scottish economy more widely.

Economic Situation

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has held with ministerial colleagues on the condition of the economy in Scotland.

Jim Murphy: I have regular discussions with my ministerial colleagues. The Scottish economy is performing well in the face of difficult economic conditions, and will benefit from the actions of the UK Government to boost demand and restore confidence.

National Minimum Wage

Jim Devine: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland had their wages increased as a result of the recent rise in the national minimum wage.

Jim Murphy: It is estimated that 90,000 Scottish workers have benefited from the rise in the national minimum wage introduced on 1 October.

Devolution

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what issues relating to the devolution settlement he has considered since his appointment.

Ann McKechin: Following our appointments, the Secretary of State and I have made it clear that we will work with colleagues in Government and the devolved Administration to ensure that the settlement continues to deliver results for Scotland.
	Consideration of a wide range of matters relating to the devolution settlement is integral to the work of the Scotland Office and its Ministers. We work to ensure that the devolution settlement continues to deliver for the people of Scotland and maintains Scotland's position within the United Kingdom.

Mentally Ill Staff

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information his Department has gathered on the effect of its policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illnesses within his Department; and what use has been made of that information.

Ann McKechin: Under the disability equality duty introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, the Departments and public sector bodies listed in the associated regulations are required to publish and implement disability equality schemes. These are plans setting out how they will carry out the disability equality duty, monitor, and report on progress. In particular this includes their arrangements for gathering information on the effect of their policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of their disabled employees, including those with mental health conditions, and making use of that information.
	The Scotland Office is covered by the scheme introduced by the Ministry of Justice which involves impact assessments, action plans and information gathering; the scheme and associated action plan is available at
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/equality-schemes-2008.htm
	The public sector bodies sponsored by the Office that are subject to these requirements are responsible for publishing and implementing their own disability equality schemes.

PRIME MINISTER

Cabinet: Meetings

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the cost was to the public purse of holding the meeting of the Cabinet in Birmingham on 8 September 2008;
	(2)  how much was spent on police protection for the Cabinet meeting in Birmingham held on 8 September 2008;
	(3)  how much was spent on  (a) lunch and  (b) refreshments for those attending the Cabinet meeting held in Birmingham on 8 September 2008.

Gordon Brown: The visit of the Cabinet to Birmingham was preceded by several ministerial visits across the region; a public engagement event with approximately 250 people was followed by a formal Cabinet meeting and an economic event including business leaders.
	The cost of the public engagement event, the Cabinet meeting and the economic events in Birmingham was £61,920, excluding VAT. There are no separate figures for the Cabinet event, and the costs for all the events have been taken together. The figure includes the cost of hiring the venue, catering, associated security and search equipment, delegate management and rail travel for both staff and Ministers. In addition, Departments and agencies will have incurred costs in terms of staff time and other support. The cost of any security provided by the police is a matter for the relevant police force.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Training

David Davies: To ask the Leader of the House how much her Office spent on external training courses for departmental staff in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by her Office to provide such courses in each year.

Chris Bryant: Staff of the Leader of the House's Office are encouraged to attend training courses as part of their development. For the financial year of 2007-08, the following external training courses were provided to members of staff.
	
		
			  Organisation  £ 
			 Embracing Enterprise Ltd. 2,937.50 
			 Dod's Parliamentary Communication 3,525 
			 National School of Government 3,350 
		
	
	Staff also have the opportunity to attend internal training courses which are provided to members of staff by the Cabinet Office free of charge.
	Details of any payments in 2008-09 will only be available when the Department's resource accounts are fully audited and laid before Parliament.
	Due to the machinery of government changes, the Leader of the House of Commons office now forms part of the Cabinet Office. Information for external training courses prior to 2007 can be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Leader of the House what personal training courses at public expense she has undertaken since her appointment.

Harriet Harman: None.

Plain English

Lee Scott: To ask the Leader of the House how much has been spent by her Office on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005.

Chris Bryant: None.

Plain English

Philip Davies: To ask the Leader of the House how many documents produced by her office were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for crystal mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Chris Bryant: None.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on overnight accommodation by his Department's civil servants in the last 12 months.

Paul Goggins: The cost of overnight accommodation, including subsistence, for civil servants within the Northern Ireland Office, excluding its agencies and executive non-departmental public bodies, for the financial year 2007-08 was £407,855.
	The cost of overnight accommodation could be separated from this figure only at disproportionate cost.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Local Government: Elections

Eric Pickles: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if he will place in the Library a full copy of the research that the Electoral Commission commissioned into the socio-demographic breakdown of the turnout in the 2008 local elections in England.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has placed in the Library a copy of the report of public opinion research commissioned from ICM to support the Commission's review of the 2008 local elections in England and Wales.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Products: Imports

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the  (a) value and  (b) volume of imports of (i) wheat, (ii) barley, (iii) fresh vegetables, (iv) potatoes, (v) fresh fruit, (vi) beef and veal, (vii) pork, (viii) bacon and ham, (ix) mutton and lamb, (x) poultry meat, (xi) eggs and (xii) liquid milk in each year since 1997, broken down by country of dispatch.

Jane Kennedy: I have arranged for the information requested to be placed in the House Library.

Departmental Finance

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how his Department's budget has changed following the movement of responsibilities to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The budget for the new Department is currently being decided between it and the contributory Departments: the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The budget will be announced to Parliament in the spring supplementary estimate.

Departmental ICT

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which IT projects sponsored by his Department have been abandoned prior to completion in each of the last five years; and how much was spent on each project.

Huw Irranca-Davies: holding answer 27 October 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 1516-17W.

Departmental Staff

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff from his Department will be redeployed to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Approximately 400 staff will be transferred from DEFRA to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The detail is still being worked on but once this has been agreed, the information on number of posts transferred will be a matter of public record.

Departmental Telephone Services

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what agencies or units for which his Department is responsible require the public to make telephone calls to them on numbers that charge more than the national call rate; and how much income each such agency has derived from such charges in each of the last three years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has made use of 0870 telephone numbers, which generated income of £1,023.61 in 2005-06, £792.06 in 2006-07 and £3,764.02 in 2007-08. All of these amounts have been paid into the consolidated fund extra receipts and so were not used to defray DEFRA's costs. The Department also makes use of 0845 numbers which are charged at standard national rates.
	The Animal Health Agency uses two lines which are 0844 numbers and charge at 4.2 pence per minute. Animal Health makes no income from these lines.
	None of the Department's other agencies makes use of any lines that charge above the national rate.
	The pesticides safety directorate confirmed that they did not use lines which charge above the national rate when they were an agency of DEFRA, prior to their move to the Health and Safety Executive in April 2008.

Floods: Finance

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with water companies on the method of charging voluntary organisations for their surface water discharges; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 28 October 2008
	It is the responsibility of The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat), the industry's independent economic regulator, to approve charging schemes proposed by water companies.
	Ministers are currently reviewing recent experience on the impact of the change from charging based on rateable value to charging based on surface area.

Food: Prices

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on  (a) crop yields and  (b) food prices of proposed revisions to directive 91/414/EEC on plant protection products, broken down by crop.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In May 2008 the pesticides safety directorate (PSD) published an assessment of the agronomic impact of the proposed revisions to Directive 91/414/EEC. A copy of this assessment has been placed in the Library of the House and can also be found on the PSD website.
	The assessment carried out by PSD has recently been developed into an economic assessment by Sean Rickard, senior lecturer in business economics at Cranfield university school of management and is available on the Cranfield university website.

Pesticides

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date  (a) his Department and  (b) the advisory committee on pesticides was first informed by the manufacturers that the insecticides known as neonicotinoids have been reported in other countries to have a significant adverse impact on honey bees.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The German authorities suspended the authorisations of 'all insecticidal seed treatments for maize and oilseed rape' on 16 May 2008. Eight products were involved which included six manufactured and distributed by one manufacturer. The pesticides safety directorate was contacted by that manufacturer on 19 May 2008, and on the same day, PSD contacted the German authorities for confirmation of the measures taken and for more detailed information. Contact between the advisory committee on pesticides and pesticide manufacturers takes place through the committee's secretariat.

Pesticides

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date members of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides were first informed that the group of insecticides known as neonicotinoids  (a) were the subject of a court case in Germany being brought by beekeepers alleging that these chemicals were responsible for large-scale death tolls among their honey bees and  (b) that the Italian Government had suspended use of the sprays because of their adverse effects on honey bees.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The advisory committee on pesticides' environment panel was informed of the incident in Germany, which led to the death of honey bees and restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids in Italy, at their meeting of 21 October 2008.
	The pesticides safety directorate is currently awaiting further information from the Italian authorities as to the basis for their action.

Pesticides

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will suspend immediately the use of neonicotinoid insecticides in order to protect honey bees.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I have no plans to suspend approval for the use of neonicotinoid insecticides.
	The risk assessment process undertaken prior to the granting of the approval to market and use these pesticides established that the risks associated with the use of these products fell within acceptable limits.
	The UK Government meet regularly with representatives of the European Commission and member states (including those which have recently imposed restrictions on the use of these chemicals), to discuss issues relating to pesticide approvals. The question of bee mortality and these pesticides was discussed at a recent meeting and at the 10th International symposium of the international commission for plant-bee relationships on hazards of pesticides to bees on 8-10 October 2008. At present there is no evidence that the approvals need to be amended on the crops and at the rates used in the UK, but we will continue to keep the situation under review.
	In addition, the Government's wildlife incident investigation scheme reviewed a number of bee deaths reported to it this summer. No neonicotinoid pesticides were detected during analysis of the bee bodies.

Pesticides

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what special steps he has asked  (a) the pesticides safety directorate (PSD) and  (b) the advisory committee on pesticides (ACP) to take to investigate the reported high levels of deaths of British honey bees over the last two years; when he made these requests; and what advice he has received from the (i) PSD and (ii) ACP to date.

Huw Irranca-Davies: At this point in time there is no evidence to suggest that reported losses of UK honeybee colonies are related to pesticide applications (see response to PQ 5369 07/08). Consequently the Secretary of State has not asked either PSD or the ACP to investigate these reports.
	Reports of colony losses are being investigated as a high priority, and there may be a number of factors involved. Additional funds of £120,000 (£90,000 from DEFRA and £30,000 from the Welsh Assembly Government) have been allocated to the National Bee Unit to expand the investigations they started last year into significant bee losses and to meet the demand for increased inspections of bee imports.

Single Payment Scheme

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of administering payments under the single payment scheme in each of the last three years, broken down by claims of less than  (a) £1,  (b) £1-£100,  (c) £100-£1,000,  (d) £1,000-£10,000,  (e) £10,000-£50,000,  (f) £50,000-£100,000,  (g) £100,000-£250,000,  (h) £250,000-£500,000,  (i) £500,000-£1,000,000,  (j) £1,000,000-£2,000,000 and  (k) over £2,000,000.

Jane Kennedy: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) does not collect information on the cost of administering payments under the single payment scheme in England broken down by monetary value. This information cannot be extracted without incurring disproportionate costs.
	RPA is the accredited common agricultural policy paying agency within England. Information for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be sought from the relevant devolved administrations.

Wildlife: Pets

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government has taken to reduce illegal possession of exotic wildlife.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The possession of exotic wildlife is not governed by specific legislation but is affected by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 where appropriate and the European regulations on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora which implement the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild flora and fauna (CITES) in EU member states.
	The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 places a responsibility on local authorities to ensure that species covered by the Act are kept in appropriate and safe conditions. It is essentially a public safety measure rather than legislation aimed at illegal wildlife possession.
	The CITES regulations are aimed at the trade of wildlife and thus control the import of exotic wildlife into and out of the EU. The CITES management authority, and the UK Border Agency work closely with the national wildlife crime unit to ensure that the enforcement and compliance aspects of the control in trade come up to the highest possible standards.
	DEFRA, with other regulatory authorities and non-government organisations, are developing a communications strategy aimed at raising awareness of CITES controls among the public, businesses and other relevant organisations. Animal Health representatives regularly attend trade shows and produce literature advising on the CITES controls and with the aim of reducing the illegal imports of endangered species. The UK Border Agency is responsible for enforcing CITES import and export controls at the UK frontier. Profiling and targeting activities are also carried out by them in order to combat illegal imports.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Complaints

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information is available to recruits to the armed services on the function of the service complaints commissioner and how to make complaints in confidence.

Bob Ainsworth: Information about the role of the SCC is communicated through a number of means. Joint service publication 831 Service Complaints (Redress of Individual Grievance) sets out the policy and process for making and handling service complaints, and includes a chapter on the role of the SCC. This is available on the defence intranet and www.mod.uk to all serving personnel. A booklet covering the main points of the complaints process, with a leaflet explaining the role of the SCC has been issued for distribution to all Service establishments. A team profile is under development on the defence intranet to make information relating to service complaints available electronically. This profile will also provide a link to the SCC's website. The SCC has visited establishments of all three services, and continues to do so regularly, to meet serving personnel and the chain of command to raise awareness of her post.
	The three services have different approaches to providing information to recruits about how to make complaints in confidence:
	 Navy
	Within phase 1 training Royal Navy and Royal Marine rating and other ranks recruits at each establishment are briefed on both equality and diversity related complaints and Service complaints generally.
	 Army
	All recruits and trainees receive briefings that inform them of the function of the complaints procedures and the various channels which are available to raise a complaint. These include: the chain of command, Women's Royal Voluntary Service, the padre, the unit welfare officer, a medical officer and the confidential support line.
	This is currently in the process of being reinforced by the inclusion of detail covering the role of the SCC in the "Army Recruiting and Training Division Code of Conduct and Behaviour for Recruits," leaflet and the recruiting group publication "A Guide for Guardians and Parents". With the commissioner's agreement, a paragraph outlining her role will be included in letters sent to parents.
	 RAF
	There are two training establishments for the RAF, Cranwell and Halton.
	At RAF Cranwell, the officer and aircrew cadet training unit is responsible for conducting the initial training of all officers and non-commissioned aircrew. Since January 2008, all cadets at RAF Cranwell have been briefed during their first week of training on the role and contact details of the SCC.
	At RAF Halton, comprehensive measures are in place to ensure that recruits are aware of the complaints procedures. These include two 45 minute briefings on the RAF's equality and diversity policy, and the distribution of a booklet entitled "Combating Bullying and Harassment in the Royal Air Force" to all recruits. The issue is also addressed in the station commander's supervisory care directive, which is mandatory reading by all instructors at RAF Halton and is available to all recruits.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 1600-1W, on armed forces: health services, what the basis for charges for the use of  (a) (i) internet, (ii) telephone and (iii) television access at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak and  (b) the telephone at Headley court rehabilitation centre was.

Kevan Jones: The basis for charges for internet, telephone and television access are as follows:
	
		
			  Selly Oak Hospital 
			  £ 
			 Television (1)1.20 
			  (2)4.50 
			  (3)9.50 
			 Internet (4)60 pence 
			 Telephone (5)10 pence 
			 (1) For two hours 2 For one day (3) For three days (4) For 20 minutes up to a maximum of £3.60 per day (5) Per minute to all UK land lines 
		
	
	Charges for use of the payphones at Headley court are set at 40 pence per minute to cover costs
	Patients at Selly Oak are provided with pay cards by the military liaison officers to use the facilities concerned. Funding for the cards is provided from patient welfare funds.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) telephones,  (b) televisions and  (c) computers with internet access are supplied for patient use at (i) the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak and (ii) Headley court rehabilitation centre.

Kevan Jones: At the Selly Oak, Queen Elizabeth and Heartlands hospitals there is access to television, telephone and internet facilities at every bed. The Alexandra wing (the military low dependency wing at Selly Oak hospital) has three televisions, one telephone and five internet terminals. In addition, the military liaison officers have access to a further three telephones and 15 internet enabled laptops if required.
	At Headley court there are nine televisions, 10 internet terminals and three payphones available for use by patients.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost per patient was of the provision of  (a) internet,  (b) television and  (c) telephone facilities at (i) the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Selly Oak and (ii) Headley court rehabilitation centre in the latest period for which figures are available.

Kevan Jones: The information is not held in the format requested.

Armed Forces: Housing

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units of service family accommodation  (a) in the UK and  (b) overseas there are in each standard for condition grade; and what percentage of the total each represents.

Kevan Jones: Out of a total worldwide stock of some 71,000 service family accommodation (SFA) properties, 54,493 have been assessed for their standard for condition (SfC)—a measure of the physical condition of the property against 102 attributes. Of those properties assessed by SfC, the following are currently at each standard:
	
		
			   UK SFA  Percentage  Overseas SFA  Percentage 
			 S1fC 28,813 61 2,487 36 
			 S2fC 16,830 35 840 12 
			 S3fC 1,773 4 1,966 28 
			 S4fC 83 <1 1,701 24 
		
	
	This Department accepts that some SFA properties are not of a standard that our service personnel and their families deserve and steps are being taken to address this. Since 2001, in Great Britain nearly 13,000 SFA have been upgraded to S1fC, with some 600 of the worse condition properties to be upgraded this year and a further 800 in each year thereafter. In Great Britain, no service family will be required to live in S4fC accommodation by the end of this financial year.
	Regarding overseas SFA, 650 properties will be upgraded to S1fC this year on the overseas estate, of which 500 will be upgraded under the hired accommodation review programme in Germany which also looks to replace flats with houses. In Cyprus, work is under way to upgrade 269 of the worse condition properties.

Armed Forces: Postal Services

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what priority is accorded to post and parcels in shipping goods for service members to theatres of operation.

Bob Ainsworth: The Ministry of Defence recognises the immense importance for our deployed personnel and their families of maintaining a fast and reliable mail service to and from operational theatres. The only circumstance in which mail is not moved as the highest priority is when there is an overriding requirement to support ongoing operations, for example the movement of critical combat supplies, or the provision of essential water and rations.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the conclusions were of the evaluation in 2007 of the use and effectiveness of procedures for seeking confirmation of self-declared medical and social histories to determine the suitability of an applicant for employment in the army; and what progress has been made in extending these procedures throughout HM armed services.

Bob Ainsworth: Since 2004, the Army has sought to obtain a recruit's medical records on arrival at the phase 1 training establishment, together with a completed medical questionnaire during the recruiting process, from the recruit's GP. No formal evaluation of this policy was conducted in 2007. However the Army considers this to be a highly effective way of helping to identify particularly vulnerable recruits during the recruiting process and at the very start of basic training. As a result the Army has been able to ensure that recruits have the appropriate support throughout their time in the Army training system. The procedures were extended to Territorial Army selection in April 2007.
	Practice in the other two services varies.
	In May 2008, the Navy introduced confirmation of self-declared medical and social histories to determine the suitability of all applicants for employment.
	The RAF operates a different system and does not routinely seek to obtain medical information from applicants' GPs, other than for those applying for commissioned officer (or non-commissioned aircrew) service.

Armed Forces: Safety

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures are in place in the armed forces to consider and act upon recommendations following Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations; what HSE reports were received in 2007; and what steps were taken as a result of each.

Bob Ainsworth: The procedures for consideration and acting upon recommendations following HSE investigations are contained within Ministry of Defence policy documentation joint service publication 815—Defence Environment and Safety Management, Annex L and JSP 375—The MOD health and safety handbook, volume 2 leaflet 14.
	Information about HSE reports received in 2007 and the actions taken, is not held centrally and officials are collating the details. Once this work has been completed I will write to my hon. Friend.

AWE Sites: Floods

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the Atomic Weapons Establishment report on the effects of extreme weather events and flooding at its Burghfield and Aldermaston nuclear warhead development and production sites in July 2007; how much the remedial action taken as a result of the report has cost to date; and what assessment he has made of the sustainability of  (a) AWE Aldermaston and  (b) AWE Burghfield.

Quentin Davies: Following the extremely heavy rainfall on 20 July 2007, immediate action was taken by AWE plc., with the agreement of MOD, to prevent any reoccurrence of the flooding. These measures proved effective when further extreme weather conditions were subsequently experienced across the country.
	AWE prepared a comprehensive review, learn and improve (RLI) assessment report following the flooding to ensure the continued safety of both sites. The MOD endorsed this report, and its recommendations, many of which were under way or implemented prior to its publication. The nuclear installations inspectorate has remained content that nuclear site licence requirements have been met both during and subsequent to the periods of exceptional rainfall.
	The cost of remediation, to the extent that it is not covered by commercial insurance, is still the subject of commercial discussions between the MOD and AWE plc.
	The disruption caused by the flooding had no adverse effect on the UK deterrent programme, and both Aldermaston and Burghfield sites maintained the capability safely to support the deterrent. Knowledge gained from the events following the flooding has been taken into account in taking forward the programme of investment under way at AWE announced in July 2005, which will ensure that this capability is sustained into the future. Specifically, flood prevention measures continue to be included in designs for replacement facilities and the potential risk from flooding forms a key element of planning applications to the local planning authority.

Beryllium

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department has  (a) undertaken and  (b) evaluated on the possible health effects of beryllium on humans.

Kevan Jones: The MOD has undertaken three studies on the health effects of beryllium between 1979 and 1990 as part of an ongoing commitment to the health and safety of its employees. These studies involved 338 individual tests for an allergy to beryllium. Sixteen positive test results were found from workers at the Atomic Weapons Establishments at Aldermaston and Cardiff. The significance of positive tests remains uncertain and no firm conclusions can be drawn.
	MOD continues to evaluate and contribute to the understanding of the possible health effects of beryllium through AWE's contribution to national and international industry working groups on the subject.

Departmental Art Works

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on maintaining its works of art in each of the last three years.

Kevan Jones: Excluding staff costs, the MOD art collection team spent the following sums:
	
		
			  Financial year  £ 
			 2005-06 52,992 
			 2006-07 59,895 
			 2007 56,254 
		
	
	The majority of these costs relate to conservation, re-framing and installation in order to maintain the MOD art collection for the future.
	The MOD art collection consists of works of fine art in a range of media; sculpture, furniture, clocks, photographs, manuscripts, prints and ships' figureheads. Everything in the collection is owned by the taxpayer, as opposed to the various regimental mess and ward room collections, which are owned by mess members.
	Most of the works in the MOD art collection archive have been presented, donated or bequeathed to the Admiralty or to the War Office over the last 300 years. Works representing the activities and history of the RAF are less well represented in the archive. Items from the archive are displayed all over the defence estate and in residences of senior officials. As a general rule, taxpayers' money is not used to acquire works of art; but to protect, conserve and display those works for which the MOD is responsible. The very best works of art are on long-term loan to various public art galleries and museums.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the five most serious disciplinary breaches in his Department were in the last 12 months; and what steps were taken in response to each breach.

Kevan Jones: The most serious of disciplinary offences in the MOD are identified as those amounting to gross misconduct. Charges of gross misconduct are considered by deciding officers at senior civil service (or equivalent) level.
	Although there is no official categorisation of such offences into an order of seriousness, the most serious gross misconduct offences in the last 12 months have included negligence causing injury to others, failure to declare criminal convictions and a number of thefts of MOD property and fraud. These cases resulted in dismissal. Procedures and policies are revised as appropriate in the light of such cases.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sanctions are available in cases of departmental staff found to have committed disciplinary offences; and how many times each has been used in each of the last three years.

Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence has a range of penalties that may be applied to those civil servants found to have committed disciplinary offences. Minor offences attract a formal warning, but the number of such warnings has not been recorded centrally. For more major offences, penalties include reprimand; loss of pay (for one, five or 10 days); downgrading with a ban on promotion for up to three years; or dismissal. Penalties may be accompanied by restitution if appropriate according to centrally available records, the number of such penalties has been as follows:
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Reprimand 19 10 14 
			 Loss of pay 55 14 17 
			 Downgrading 1 0 3 
			 Dismissal 26 17 27 
			  Note: It is possible that these figures do not give a fully complete view, as they were managed locally and not all may have been reported to the central conduct unit. Since October 2007, all cases have been centrally monitored and recorded by the People Pay and Pensions Agency.

Departmental Motor Vehicles

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British-built cars his Department  (a) owns and  (b) operates.

Quentin Davies: The Ministry of Defence has a lease/hire agreement in place for the provision of the majority of non-operational cars (white fleet vehicles). It does not therefore own such vehicles under this arrangement. As at 20 October 2008 there were 7,177 cars leased under the contract for the UK, of these 3,730 were British built.
	Some units may arrange for the ad hoc supply of a very small quantity of cars to be provided through local arrangements. These details are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the small number of cars owned by Ministry of Defence for use on operations is being withheld as its release would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Departmental Operating Costs

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual  (a) staffing and  (b) other office costs of the office of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans is.

Kevan Jones: The staffing cost of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans for the financial year 2007-08 was £395,297. In addition to the development and delivery of policy, the staff work load incorporates the processing of over 1,650 parliamentary questions and around 3,300 letters from MPs and peers each year. The cost includes a proportion of support staff costs shared between defence ministerial offices. Additional office costs separately identifiable for financial year 2007-08 were £33,368; this figure excludes shared building and office services.

Departmental Secondments

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officials from his Department have been seconded to work for private companies in the last five years, broken down by  (a) grade,  (b) salary band and  (c) company.

Kevan Jones: Centrally held records since 1 April this year show that the Department currently has no officials seconded to work for private companies. Secondments prior to 1 April 2008 were arranged locally by business partners and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Sick Leave

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2008,  Official Report, column 191W, on departmental sick leave, what management areas would need to be surveyed to determine the number of staff on gardening leave.

Kevan Jones: In order to ascertain the number of staff who are on gardening leave at a particular time, it would be necessary to survey the individual line managers of some 750 staff in the redeployment pool (who are given priority in consideration for new posts), spread across all areas of the Department, to find out whether they were currently unable, exceptionally, to provide such staff with work.

Ex-servicemen: Advisory Services

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ex-armed services personnel have received specialist advice at each of the six pilot schemes offering such advice in the community.

Kevan Jones: The health care of veterans is a matter for the national health service and the four UK health departments. Information has not yet been collected on how many ex-armed service personnel have received specialist advice at each of the pilots launched so far. Independent evaluation is an integral part of the project and one of the key aims will be to generate this information.

Ex-servicemen: Advisory Services

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the start up dates were of the six pilot schemes for specialised advice to armed forces veterans.

Kevan Jones: The respective start up dates for the five community mental health pilots launched so far were as follows:
	
		
			  Location  Date launched 
			 Staffordshire and Shropshire November 2007 
			 Camden and Islington December 2007 
			 Cardiff February 2008 
			 Bishop Auckland May 2008 
			 Plymouth June 2008 
		
	
	It is hoped the pilot in Scotland will launch in the next few months.

Ex-servicemen: Advisory Services

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the locations are of the six pilot schemes offering specialist advice to armed forces veterans.

Kevan Jones: The NHS sites participating in the community mental health pilot scheme for veterans are: Stafford, Camden and Islington, Cardiff, Bishop Auckland, Plymouth and Scotland. In addition, to assist those veterans not in the catchment areas of one of the pilots, we have expanded our medical assessment programme based at St. Thomas' hospital, London, to include assessment of veterans with mental health symptoms with operational service since 1982.

Mediterranean Region: Navy

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what roles Royal Navy vessels were performing in the Mediterranean during  (a) July,  (b) August and  (c) September 2008.

Bob Ainsworth: The Royal Navy vessels on operations in the Mediterranean during July, August and September 2008 were engaged in maritime security and various duties associated with NATO tasking.

Plain English

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005.

Kevan Jones: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Turkey: Navy

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessels were stationed in or around the coast of Turkey during the month of August 2008.

Bob Ainsworth: No Royal Navy vessels were stationed in or around the coast of Turkey during the month of August 2008.

TRANSPORT

Access for All Scheme

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding he plans to allocate to the Access for All fund in each of the next three years.

Paul Clark: Access for All was launched by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Glasgow, South (Mr. Harris) in March 2006 and is a 10-year, £370-million programme of investment. The main part of the programme is delivered by Network Rail, which is targeted to spend £35 million per year. In addition, the Department for Transport will make available approximately £6 million per year for small schemes funding, through to 2015. The exact amount will depend on the applications we receive and on Network Rail's progress.

Cars: Exhaust Emissions

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he plans to take to minimise the negative effects on the environment of cars in development, with specific reference to measures to promote  (a) fuel economy and  (b) the use of hybrid drives.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government have a wide range of policies to promote the development of more fuel efficient and lower carbon vehicles.
	At a European level we are supporting the development of mandatory new car CO2 standards which will require the fleet average of new cars to be reduced to 130g CO2/km by 2012. We also support adopting a longer term target of 100g CO2/km by 2020. These regulations will incentivise the development of all technologies capable of improving fuel economy and reducing CO2 emissions—including hybrid drives.
	In the UK we are investing more than £100 million in UK research, development and demonstration of a wide range of technologies for more fuel efficient and lower carbon cars, including supporting the development of more efficient engines, improved hybrid and electric vehicles and the use of new lighter materials.
	Further detail on our policies in these areas can be found in the Department for Transport's annual report.

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2008,  Official Report, column 417W, on departmental non-departmental public bodies, if he will provide the equivalent figures for each of his Department's advisory non-departmental public bodies.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 28 October 2008
	The following table details the financial support that the Department for Transport has planned for its advisory non-departmental public bodies for the years 2008 to 2011.
	
		
			  Department for Transport planned financial support to its advisory NDPBs) for the financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11 
			  £ million 
			  Advisory NDPB  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) 1 1 1 
			 Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Cycling England 20 60 60 
			 (1) None. 
		
	
	The Department also provides secretariat and administrative functions in support of its advisory NDPBs and meets certain other costs from its own budgets.

Departmental Parking

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff parking spaces are provided by his Department, broken down by location.

Geoff Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 June 2008,  Official Report, column 1064W.

Departmental Postal Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 September 2008,  Official Report, columns 1408-09W, on departmental post offices, how many items of mail were dealt with by  (a) his Department's,  (b) the Highways Agency's,  (c) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's and  (d) the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency's mail service in the last 12 months.

Geoff Hoon: The requested information is provided as follows.
	
		
			   Number of  items of mail 
			  (a) Central Department(1) 124,968 
			  (b) Highways Agency(2) 28,050 
			  (c) Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency(3) 108,463,941 
			  (d) Vehicle and Operator Services Agency(4) (4)— 
			 (1) Comprising London HQ and Rail Accident Investigation Branch. Data for Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Marine Accident Investigation Branch is not recorded and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. (2) Relates to Woodlands (Bedford). Requested information is not recorded at other Highways Agency sites. (3) Of the total 103,955,287 were prepared and presented in a way that gained mail discounts. A further 4,508,654 were despatched without any mail discounts. (4) The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) do not record this information.

Departmental Public Participation

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many citizens' juries his Department has held since 1 July 2007; what the cost was of each; what issues were discussed at each event; and how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) members of the public attended each event.

Geoff Hoon: Since 1 July 2007 the Department for Transport and its agencies have not commissioned a citizens' jury.

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is.

Geoff Hoon: The Department and its agencies have recruited 177 fast stream employees since inception in May 2002. The current average salaries of those still employed by the Department are split by pay band as follows:
	
		
			  Current pay grade  Current average salary (£) 
			 PB4 and fast stream 27,942 
			 PB6 46,373 
			 PB7 58,935 
			 SCS PB1 60,536 
			 Average 34,781

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) agencies sponsored by his Department in each year since its creation.

Geoff Hoon: The Department for Transport was formed in April 2002 and currently includes seven agencies, a shared service centre and the central Department, with a total staff of over 19,000.
	For the central Department, the records for replacement staff passes are available from April 2005 as follows:
	
		
			   Passes 
			 2005 282 
			 2006 435 
			 2007 402 
			 2008 141 
		
	
	These records do not distinguish between passes replaced due to loss or theft and those replaced for other reasons. Lost or stolen passes are estimated to account for approximately 45 per cent. of all replacement passes issued.
	For the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the number of staff passes recorded as lost or stolen in each year since 2002 is as follows:
	
		
			   Passes 
			 2002 97 
			 2003 89 
			 2004 82 
			 2005 94 
			 2006 80 
			 2007 82 
			 2008 74 
		
	
	These records include staff passes for the DfT shared service centre, which became operational in April 2007. However, they do not distinguish between passes replaced due to loss and those replaced due to theft as cases are dealt with individually and not recorded in an aggregated form.
	For the Highways Agency, records of replacement staff building passes are available from 2006 as follows:
	
		
			   Passes 
			 2006 25 
			 2007 48 
			 2008 48 
		
	
	These records do not distinguish between passes that were reported as lost and those that were reported as stolen.
	For the Government Car and Despatch Agency, records of passes reported missing are available from 2005 as follows:
	
		
			   Passes 
			 2005 18 
			 2006 24 
			 2007 5 
			 2008 7 
		
	
	These records do not distinguish between passes that were lost and those that were stolen.
	The Vehicle Certification Agency have recorded that no staff passes were lost or stolen since 2002.
	For the Driving Standards Agency, records of staff passes reported as lost or stolen are available from March 2008 and show 26 passes reported to date. These records do not distinguish between passes reported as lost and those reported as stolen.
	The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, the Maritime Coastguard Agency and, prior to March 2008, the Driving Standards Agency do not centrally record the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen as cases are dealt with individually and not recorded in an aggregated form. To collect this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Driving: Licensing

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of people driving illegally without a licence or insurance who are resident in  (a) north-west Cambridgeshire constituency,  (b) Cambridgeshire,  (c) the east of England and  (d) England and Wales.

Jim Fitzpatrick: There are no figures available for those that drive without a valid driving licence on a regional basis or for uninsured driving. For national figures I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 282-83W, to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers).

Heathrow Airport

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from the business community about a third runway at Heathrow in the last two years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Ministers regularly meet and correspond with business representatives on a range of issues as part of the Department's continuing engagement with aviation stakeholders. Over the last two years, previous Secretaries of State have attended a number of events either hosted by, or where the business community has been represented, on the specific issue of Heathrow airport, although not limited to discussions about the third runway.
	In addition, a wide range of business organisations submitted responses to the 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation which closed in February this year. All of the almost 70,000 responses to the consultation are being analysed and will inform decisions on Heathrow which we expect to take by the end of the year.

Highways Agency: Consultants

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total expenditure on consultants by the Highways Agency was in each year since its creation.

Paul Clark: Data is available only from 2002-03 and is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Consultancy expenditure  (£ million) 
			 2002-03 157.5 
			 2003-04 169.7 
			 2004-05 115.0 
			 2005-06 2.4 
			 2006-07 1.7 
			 2007-08 2.0 
		
	
	The figures up to 2004-05 include all external consultants and technical advisers. The reduction in expenditure in 2005-06 was due to applying the revised Office of Government Commerce/Professional Services Forum definition of consultancy effective from 1 April 2005.
	The revised OGC/Professional Services Forum definition of consultancy states:
	'Consultancy falls under the wider category of Professional Services which comprises the following areas; General management and business, Legal, HR, IT,- Property, and Financial. Consultancy services cover one or more of advice, design and development, and implementation where the assignment is time limited or ad hoc, and is in addition to business as usual activity. Where these services are provided as part of steady state operations this should be recorded as staff substitution, even if a consultant is engaged.'
	Expenditure in years 2002-03 to 2004-05 restated on the post 2005 basis is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Consultancy expenditure (restated ) 
			 2002-03 3.4 
			 2003-04 4.7 
			 2004-05 2.4 
			 2005-06 2.4 
			 2006-07 1.7 
			 2007-08 2.0 
		
	
	Consultants and technical advisers provide specialist advice, knowledge and services essential to maintain our infrastructure and deliver transport improvements. They are engaged only where the agency does not normally retain full-time in-house expertise.
	The Highways Agency contracts out 95 per cent. of its total spend. This is for the maintenance of our national road network, to ensure we have properly maintained, safe and serviceable roads.

M1: Repairs and Maintenance

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his most recent estimate is of the date when the roadworks in Nottinghamshire on the M1 motorway north of junction 25 will be completed; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: holding answer 28 October 2008
	The widening works between M1 Junction 25 to Junction 28 are currently programmed to be completed in autumn 2010.

Motor Vehicles: Licensing

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign-registered motor vehicles which had been in the UK for more than six months were registered and licensed in the United Kingdom in the period  (a) January to June 2008,  (b) July to December 2007 and  (c) January to June 2007.

Jim Fitzpatrick: When a foreign vehicle is re-registered and licensed in GB we do not capture how long the vehicle has been in the country. The total number of foreign registered vehicles re-registered and licensed by DVLA is:
	
		
			   Number 
			 January-June 2007 45,055 
			 July-December 2007 46,483 
			 January-June 2008 40,930

Motor Vehicles: Licensing

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents were caused by drivers without  (a) valid insurance and  (b) a valid driving licence in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Motor Vehicles: Licensing

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for how many vehicles a statutory off road notification was made in the third quarter of  (a) 2008,  (b) 2007,  (c) 2006,  (d) 2005 and  (e) 2004.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following are the total statutory off road notifications (SORN) processed by the agency for July, August and September of the years stated. The totals consist of notifications made by both manual and electronic means.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004 927,368 
			 2005 1,007,738 
			 2006 1,024,288 
			 2007 1,031,549 
			 2008 1,095,695

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the terms of Commission directive 2008/89/EC, on the provision of daytime running lights on motor vehicles, permit  (a) retailers before sale and  (b) purchasers after sale to modify vehicles to remove the facility; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: When the directive comes into force it will require all relevant new type approved vehicles to be fitted with dedicated low-wattage daytime running lights (DRL), which automatically activate when the engine is started, in order to be eligible for registration and sale. While retailers here will not be able to remove or disconnect DRL prior to registering the vehicle, there would currently be nothing thereafter to prevent the DRL being removed or disconnected, provided that this could be achieved without interfering with other lighting functions.
	We are now considering how best to require that DRL fitted from the implementation dates are adequately maintained, so as to ensure that they continue to function correctly after registration.

Network Rail: Standards

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Office of the Rail Regulator has issued an improvement notice against Network Rail in the last month; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: holding answer 28 October 2008
	The Office of Rail Regulation has not served any improvement notices on Network Rail in the last month.

Railway Stations: Disabled

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on plans to use Access for All funding to make access improvements at Leominster railway station; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: Earlier this year, my predecessor announced the inclusion of Leominster station in the Access for All programme, for delivery between 2012 and 2015. Subject to a survey and feasibility study to identify the most appropriate solution during 2009, construction is programmed to begin in autumn 2010 with completion currently forecast during summer 2011.

Railway Stations: Gatwick

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what decision he has made on the redevelopment of Gatwick railway station.

Paul Clark: The Government have made no decision on the redevelopment of Gatwick airport railway station.

Railway Stations: Gatwick

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has made to Network Rail on upgrading Gatwick railway station before 2012.

Paul Clark: The Government have not made separate representations to Network Rail to upgrade Gatwick railway station.
	The Government set out in July 2007 the improvements in capacity, reliability and safety they wished to be provided on the railway by 2014, and made significant investment available to pay for this. It is for the rail industry to determine the enhancements required to deliver this, subject to independent evaluation by the Office of Rail Regulation.

Railway Stations: Security

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many stations  (a) were accredited to  (b) unsuccessfully applied for accreditation to and  (c) were lapsed from accreditation to the Secure Stations scheme in each year since its inception.

Paul Clark: Stations are awarded Secure Station status for a two-year period once they have met the required scheme accreditation standards on station design, station management, crime management and passenger perceptions. After this two-year period, stations can seek reaccreditation under the scheme. The vast majority of accredited stations seek and obtain re-accreditation.
	The figures requested are provided in the following table. No details are held on those stations which have unsuccessfully applied for accreditation since the scheme's inception. However, since March 2005, stations which initially would not have gained full accreditation have been able to work towards accreditation. Six such stations have achieved full accreditation in this way.
	The yearly accreditation figures represent stations that have received their accreditation or reaccreditation in that year. The figures do not include those stations in the second year of their accreditation period. For example, by totalling all new accreditations with those currently in the second year of their accreditation there are at present a total of 820 accredited stations in England, Scotland and Wales.
	It should also be noted that the lapsed figures represent stations that that lapsed their accreditation (or re-accreditation) that year—however, they may have subsequently successfully gained re-accreditation thereafter.
	
		
			   Accreditations including re-accreditations  Lapsed stations 
			 1998 5 — 
			 1999 23 — 
			 2000 50 1 
			 2001 60 2 
			 2002 86 15 
			 2003 68 13 
			 2004 93 30 
			 2005 124 35 
			 2006 301 8 
			 2007 278 5 
			 2008 360 7

Railway Stations: Security

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many stations, which were working towards accreditation, subsequently failed to receive accreditation within 18 months, in each year since the introduction of the secure stations scheme.

Paul Clark: No stations which were working towards accreditation have failed to receive accreditation since the working towards accreditation category was introduced within the secure stations scheme in March 2005.

Railways: Fares

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints his Department received from members of the public on matters which fall within the remit of the approved penalty fares scheme in the last year for which figures are available.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not collate these statistics. However, there is a very small but regular flow of items of correspondence from passengers regarding National rail penalty fare schemes. These relate almost exclusively to unsuccessful appeals made by individuals to one of the two approved independent penalty fares appeals services.

Railways: Overcrowding

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will gather information on overcrowding levels on trains outside London and the south-east.

Paul Clark: holding answer 27 October 2008
	The Department for Transport will gather information on crowding levels during the morning peak in London and in other cities as part of its plans for monitoring delivery of the capacity metrics, announced in the 2007 high-level output specification.

Railways: Standards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scheduled train services were cancelled in the six months from 1 April 2008, broken down by train operating company.

Paul Clark: The latest available data covers England and Wales for the period up to 13 September. Between 1 April and 13 September 2008, the number of franchised passenger trains cancelled for their whole journey is given by train operating company in the following table.
	
		
			  Train operating company  Number of cancellations 
			 Arriva Trains Wales 469 
			 c2c 541 
			 Chiltern 333 
			 First Capital Connect 2,029 
			 First Great Western 1,552 
			 National Express East Coast 313 
			 Merseyrail 672 
			 Northern Rail 2,301 
			 National Express East Anglia 2,776 
			 Southeastern 2,190 
			 Southern 2,126 
			 Stagecoach South West Trains 1,997 
			 TransPennine Express 437 
			 Virgin Trains 775 
			 CrossCountry 555 
			 East Midlands Trains 698 
			 London Overground 503 
			 London Midland 2,976 
			 Total 23,243 
		
	
	The total number of trains cancelled represents 0.9 per cent. of those scheduled to operate over the period in question. This is a reduction on the equivalent period in 2007 when 1.1 per cent. of scheduled services were cancelled.

Railways: Standards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scheduled rail services were  (a) delayed and  (b) delayed more than 20 minutes in each of the first three quarters of 2008, broken down by (i) region and (ii) train operating company.

Paul Clark: Train performance data for the rail network is collected and processed by Network Rail. The hon. Member may wish to contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to his question.
	Iain Coucher
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London
	NW1 2EE
	The information about the punctuality of individual train operating companies can be found on the Network Rail website, which is situated at:
	http://www.networkrail.co.uk/

Rescue Services: Hope Cove

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will arrange for the meeting between the hon. Member for Totnes, the Hope Cove lifeboat crew and the Minister responsible for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as requested by letter on 26 September; and what the reasons for the time taken in responding to that letter are.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The hon. Member's letter was received in the Department on 7 October and a reply, agreeing to a meeting, was sent on 24 October. This is within the Department's guidelines for the return of correspondence within 15 working days of receipt.

Roads: Accidents

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) fatalities,  (b) serious injuries and  (c) other outcomes there were in road accidents in (i) Cornwall and (ii) England in the months of (A) June, (B) July and (C) August in the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of casualties resulting from reported personal injury road accidents for the months of June, July and August in Cornwall and England, for each of the last five years is given in the table:
	
		
			  Number of casualties 
			Cornwall  England 
			June  July  August  June  July  August 
			 2003 Killed 0 1 5 263 259 321 
			  Serious 21 26 29 2,557 2,518 2,527 
			  Slight 237 269 250 18,857 19,678 18,298 
			  Total 258 296 284 21,677 22,455 21,146 
			 2004 Killed 8 5 1 231 207 241 
			  Serious 14 21 28 2,413 2,214 2,324 
			  Slight 212 248 261 18,205 17,876 18,356 
			  Total 234 274 290 20,849 20,297 20,921 
			 2005 Killed 4 5 5 225 218 230 
			  Serious 24 24 23 2,223 2,285 2,244 
			  Slight 238 302 288 17,925 18,260 17,559 
			  Total 266 331 316 20,373 20,763 20,033 
			 2006 Killed 6 5 6 232 223 240 
			  Serious 11 26 15 2,278 2,337 2,056 
			  Slight 207 255 273 16,578 17,843 16,505 
			  Total 224 286 294 19,088 20,403 18,801 
			 2007 Killed 6 1 4 184 202 226 
			  Serious 21 26 26 2,084 2,186 2,122 
			  Slight 248 284 244 16,568 17,015 15,991 
			  Total 275 311 274 18,836 19,403 18,339

Roads: Lighting

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to encourage local authorities to dim street lights during the early hours of the morning.

Paul Clark: Street lighting service levels are a matter for individual highway authorities.
	The effects of reducing lighting levels or turning lights off will vary from case to case. Any cost savings from reduced energy use would have to be balanced against potential adverse effects, for example on accidents or crime.
	The UK Lighting Board in conjunction with the Institution of Lighting Engineers has published "Invest to Save" which provides guidance to local authorities considering adopting energy saving measures such as dimming or switching off lights. The document can be found at the Institution of Lighting Engineers' website
	www.ile.org.uk.

Roads: Robin Cousins Centre

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions  (a) he and  (b) his officials have had with (i) Bristol city council and (ii) the Highways Agency in relation to highways access to the Robin Cousins centre.

Paul Clark: Officials within the Highways Agency have agreed terms for the sale of a permanent right of way to Bristol city council over a plot of land which is under the M5 viaduct at Shirehampton. The land is currently leased to the council and provides access to the Robin Cousins Sports centre. The council are purchasing the right of way to facilitate the sale of their sports centre.
	The Highways Agency's valuer considers that the sports centre site has future development potential and to ensure that the agency obtains best value from its disposal the terms agreed with the council included a "clawback" provision which would trigger a payment to the Highways Agency if the sport centre site's value is increased by the granting of planning, permission for other development in the future.
	The Highways Agency has been advised that inclusion of the clawback is hindering the purchasers of the sports centre from obtaining finance to purchase and operate the site. A meeting between the Highways Agency, Bristol city council, the prospective purchasers and representatives from the community to try to find a way to enable the sale of the sports centre to proceed took place in Shirehampton on 19 September.
	Neither I nor officials from the Department have been involved in these discussions.

JUSTICE

Administration of Justice: ICT

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has in place to ensure that all criminal justice IT systems are effectively co-ordinated once they are fully operational.

Bridget Prentice: We have in place governance arrangements to manage the co-ordination of IT development across the criminal justice system through the business change board and its technical advisory groups. We have put in place an IT infrastructure that is complementary and we are developing this further, for example, through the introduction of joint video services, which enable criminal justice organisations to use one shared service providing video facilities.

Approved Premises

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the implications for public safety of the disclosure to the public of the identity and location of bail hostels; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what guidance he issues to local authorities on the disclosure to the public of the  (a) identity and  (b) location of bail hostels in their area; and what assessment he has made of the operation of such arrangements in practice.

David Hanson: The bail accommodation and support service provided by ClearSprings Ltd under contract to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), to which I take these questions to refer, does not provide hostels. It provides people on bail and on home detention curfew with private, rented accommodation in small houses and flats with up to five people sharing. It is not our practice to disclose the addresses as these are the private homes of those provided with the accommodation. If an address does become public ClearSprings and NOMS will consider the risks to the occupants and to the public, consulting the police and other agencies as appropriate, and take such action as is considered appropriate. Local authorities are consulted by ClearSprings about the locations of properties. The Department has not issued guidance to local authorities about the disclosure of addresses. However, in its communication with local authorities in July 2008, ClearSprings asked that they respect the private nature of the houses and share address information on a 'need to know' basis only.

Coroners

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what powers coroners have to investigate deaths overseas.

Bridget Prentice: Since a decision of the Court of Appeal in 1983 coroners have had a duty to investigate a death overseas when the body is lying in their district and the death is reported to them, and the circumstances are such that they would have been required to investigate the death had it occurred in England or Wales.
	Coroners have no special powers in this respect. When investigating overseas deaths they rely on co-operation from British embassies, high commissions or consulates and the relevant foreign administration.
	Under planned coroners' legislation, coroners will retain this important duty. To assist coroners, the new chief coroner will have authority to secure information from overseas administrations.

Corruption

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his objectives are as Government anti-corruption champion over the next 12 months.

Jack Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I made on 15 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 44-45WS.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what sanctions are available in cases of departmental staff found to have committed disciplinary offences; and how many times each has been used in each of the last three years.

Michael Wills: In the Ministry of Justice (former DCA), including HMCS, OPG, Tribunals Service, Wales Office, Scottish Office and the Ministry of Justice Headquarters, there are three levels of sanction in disciplinary cases. They are a first written warning, final written warning, and dismissal, although as an alternative to dismissal, a 36-month final written warning can be given.
	In the public-sector prison service, the following sanctions are available: oral warning, written warning, final written warning, re-grading, removal from the field of promotion, financial restitution and dismissal from service. In cases where the misconduct is serious but does not warrant dismissal, a combination of penalties (for example a final written warning and removal from the field of promotion) can be awarded.
	It is not possible to provide information as to how many times each sanction has been used during the last three years without incurring disproportionate cost.

Electoral Commission: Standards

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to  (a) increase the effectiveness of the Electoral Commission as a regulator of electoral administration and  (b) strengthen electoral regulation at local authority level.

Michael Wills: The main statutory functions of the Electoral Commission in relation to electoral administration are to:
	(i) Report on particular elections and referendums (section 5 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA 2000); and
	(ii) Review electoral law and practice (section 5, PPERA 2000).
	In addition, under section 10 of PPERA, the Electoral Commission may provide advice and assistance to electoral administrators.
	Under the Electoral Administration Act 2006, the Government strengthened the Electoral Commission's functions relating to electoral administration by increasing their reporting responsibilities. This included introducing provisions allowing the Electoral Commission to set performance standards for electoral administrators and to collect data on the financial aspects of electoral administration.
	The Electoral Commission has developed these performance standards and the final set of standards was published on 21 July. A copy of these standards was laid before the House and the information obtained from local authorities as a consequence will give us a better understanding of the actions taken to increase registration.
	The Government believe that the measures currently before the House, as part of the Political Parties and Elections Bill, to reform the Commission's governance in line with the recommendations in the 11th report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life will help to make the Commission a more effective regulator.

Freedom of Information: Local Authorities

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what additional funding has been given to local authorities to assist them with processing the new burdens associated with the ongoing implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice currently has no plans to impose any new burdens on local authorities further to the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lancaster Farms Young Offender Institution

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1379W, on the Lancaster Farms Young Offender Institution, how many inmates of HM Young Offender Institution Lancaster farms aged 18 years and one month are housed on the juvenile site.

David Hanson: As at 28 October, there were six prisoners aged 18 years and one month or over housed on the juvenile site at Lancaster Farms.

Magistrates Courts: Kent

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the courts service budget for  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11 on the operation of magistrates' courts in Kent.

Bridget Prentice: HMCS' top priority remains running our courts effectively and efficiently—this is our core business and where we will focus our energy and effort.
	The senior management team in Kent, along with all other areas of HMCS, are currently looking at what steps can be taken to reduce overheads, remove duplication and increase efficiencies within its business processes. The overall objective is to prioritise front line services to court users.
	Further analysis is required before the full business impact of the budgetary pressures can be assessed. HMCS regional, area and central directors under the leadership of Chris Mayer, the chief executive, are currently reviewing where and how the savings in 2008-09 can be made and the impact.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to ensure prisoners on sentences of imprisonment for public protection with mental health problems have access to offending behaviour programmes and other support to enable them to be released safely at the end of their tariff.

David Hanson: All prisoners, including prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP), are assessed at the point of reception into prison. Those at risk of having a mental health problem, or vulnerable to suicide, are referred for a mental health assessment to the mental health in-reach team, which will help inform their care and treatment.
	The National Offender Management Service has implemented changes to support the movement of all IPP prisoners through the custodial system in order to improve their access to courses and other work to address their offending.
	There will however be some prisoners who are unable to participate, due to the intensive nature and focus of the programmes. If an offender is not immediately suitable, further work may be possible to prepare the individual. Individuals suffering from serious acute psychiatric morbidity, generally are not suitable for programmes.
	Recent reports by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and HM chief inspector of prisons along with a report being prepared by Lord Bradley will inform our offender health strategy to be published early next year.
	The Parole Board decides on the suitability for release of IPP prisoners, who will then be released on licence and subject to probation supervision.

Plain English

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent by his Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005.

Maria Eagle: There has been no spend in the Ministry of Justice on Plain English Campaign training courses since 2005. Prior to 2005, the Plain English Campaign was commissioned to support the creation of learning material for internal "Effective Writing" courses.

Prison Sentences

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to ensure that people sentenced to imprisonment for public protection and their families are given correct information about the sentence.

David Hanson: When the sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) became available for offences committed after 4 April 2005, information leaflets were provided to members of staff to enable them to advise sentenced offenders with correct information.
	The management of IPPs was changed and enhanced by the introduction of offender management for IPP prisoners in January 2008. The offender management implementation manual places a clear responsibility on staff, offender managers in the community and offender supervisors in prisons, to ensure that IPP prisoners understand the sentence they have received. The implementation manual was accompanied by a further information leaflet for prisoners.
	Where members of prisoners' families make inquiries with the specific consent of the prisoners themselves, they will receive accurate information about the sentence passed by the court.

Prisoners

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what strategies have been developed in order to identify and combat radicalisation within the UK prison population.

David Hanson: The Government recognise the risk of radicalisation in prisons, just as there are risks in the wider community. In England and Wales, the National Offender Management Service is working closely with partner agencies to tackle all forms of extremism. Its programme of work includes gathering intelligence and establishing a clear national picture of the risk; training and awareness-raising for staff; support for Muslim chaplains in their work with those vulnerable to radicalisation; and work to research and develop appropriate interventions.

Re-offenders: Lancashire

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persistent offenders there were in east Lancashire in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: There are two statistical counts of persistent offenders used in the criminal justice system.
	The first count is of persistent young offenders (PYOs). A PYO is a young person aged 10 to 17 who has been found guilty of recordable offences on three or more separate occasions, and within three years of the last of these is arrested by the police for a further recordable offence.
	During the three-month period from April to June 2008, there were 7,389 criminal court cases across England and Wales in which PYOs were found guilty and sentenced. Of these, 292 were in Lancashire. Within east Lancashire, there were 59 and 48 cases respectively in the "eastern" and "Pennine" base control unit (BCU) police areas during the same period. Further information on PYOs can be found on the Ministry of Justice website.
	The second is for prolific and other priority offenders (PPOs). The PPO programme tackles a small hard-core of offenders (not confined to any age group) who commit a disproportionate amount of crime, and cause disproportionate damage to their communities. It is a crime-reduction programme with a reducing re-offending focus.
	Data from the PPO scheme performance framework indicated that at the end of March 2008 there were a total of 11,296 PPOs being managed in England and Wales, of whom 305 were in Lancashire. In the East Lancashire area (encompassing for this purpose the local authorities of Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle) there were 99 offenders being managed as PPOs.

Repossession Orders

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) repossession notices were served and  (b) ejection orders were granted by the courts in each year since 1985.

Bridget Prentice: The following table shows the number of notices of issue served for repossession and the number of suspended and outright ejection orders made in the county courts of England and Wales in each year since 1987, the earliest year for which these statistics are available.
	For future reference, court level statistics on mortgage and landlord repossession actions from 1987 to 2007 can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/mortgatelandlordpossession.htm
	These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts, since not all the orders will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession. The figures for properties taken into possession are available from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
	
		
			  Possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales since 1987 
			   Mortgage( 1)  Landlord (standard procedure)( 2, 3)  Landlord (accelerated procedure)( 2, 4) 
			   Claims  Orders( 5, 6)  Claims  Orders( 5, 6)  Claims  Orders( 5, 6) 
			 1987 79,160 48,814 79,332 47,129 — — 
			 1988 72,655 47,769 103,756 62,914 — — 
			 1989 91,309 53,066 156,679 104,923 — — 
			 1990 145,350 103,508 131,017 112,780 — — 
			 1991 186,649 142,905 119,134 95,013 — — 
			 1992 142,162 126,881 117,671 96,958 — — 
			 1993 116,181 105,283 96,497 82,724 — — 
			 1994 87,958 77,681 83,081 63,561 — — 
			 1995 84,170 75,258 102,995 82,599 — — 
			 1996 79,858 71,203 111,807 87,849 — — 
			 1997 67,073 57,156 130,163 99,869 — — 
			 1998 84,836 66,055 155,128 112,236 — — 
			 1999 77,885 55,964 171,476 111,067 13,908 11,395 
			 2000 70,430 50,918 176,123 114,321 16,660 13,254 
			 2001 65,862 47,997 175,901 117,684 17,518 13,558 
			 2002 63,203 41,759 177,377 118,598 18,096 13,557 
			 2003 65,886 41,038 159,724 107,211 18,352 13,483 
			 2004 77,250 46,683 154,186 102,630 20,429 15,156 
			 2005 114,764 70,964 144,636 96,977 21,078 15,892 
			 2006 131,219 90,680 135,048 89,631 23,011 17,322 
			 2007 137,591 95,433 122,250 87,500 24,540 18,959 
			 (1) Mortgage data includes all types of lenders. (2) Landlord data includes all types of landlords. (3) For 1987 to 1989, these standard procedure actions involved only social landlords. (4) Accelerated procedure actions are not available prior to 1999. This procedure is used by landlords in relation to assured shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. It enables orders to be made by the court solely on the basis of written evidence and without calling the parties to a hearing. (5) Orders include suspended orders and orders made. (6) The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction.  Source: Ministry of Justice.

Sentencing: Mentally Ill

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will provide guidance to sentencers on the appropriate use of sentences of imprisonment for public protection for offenders with mental health problems; and if he will ensure that such offenders who need treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983 are provided with hospital orders.

Maria Eagle: Sentencing is an independent function and judges and magistrates are responsible for making decisions in individual cases, which are governed by the statutory framework laid down by Parliament. Responsibility for issuing sentencing guidelines rests with the Sentencing Guidelines Council, not the Government. The council was set up under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and is an independent body chaired by the Lord Chief Justice. The Council's guide for sentencers and practitioners on dangerous offenders makes it clear that if the conditions for a hospital order are satisfied, the court may make such an order, even if the criteria for passing a sentence of imprisonment (or custody) for life, imprisonment (or detention) for public protection or an extended sentence are met.
	In March 2008, the Department issued guidance to the courts on the sentencing options available for mentally disordered offenders following the changes made to the Mental Health Act 1983 by the Mental Health Act 2007. The 2007 Act reflects the continuation of the Government's policy that mentally disordered people who commit offences should receive specialist mental health treatment rather than being punished, wherever that can safely be achieved.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to progress with a further review of alcohol labelling before the review of the first stage is complete;
	(2)  what reviews there have been of the independent market survey conducted by the Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association undertaken as part of his Department's review of alcohol labelling; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will discuss with industry partners in the voluntary alcohol labelling agreement whether  (a) the pictorial representation of pregnant women and  (b) the reproduction of the logo drinkaware.co.uk on labels of alcoholic products have the same effect on consumers as an advisory message in text form; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  for what reason the responsible drinking messages disseminated by the drinks industry under the terms of the voluntary alcohol labelling agreement do not include the word "please"; what assessment he has made of the potential change in the effect of such messages of framing them in more courteous terms; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department will commission independent second-stage monitoring of implementation of the voluntary agreement with the alcohol industry to include unit and health information on alcoholic drinks labels towards the end of 2008.
	The Department commissioned a re-analysis by Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association of its initial survey data in the light of new alcohol industry data on market share. We await industry confirmation that these data are not commercially confidential before we can confirm publicly the outcome of the re-analysis.
	We wish to consider constructively possible inclusion of additional wording within sensible drinking messages as complying with the terms of the voluntary agreement with industry, even where these were not suggested as part of the original agreement. We will conclude this consideration shortly.
	The voluntary agreement already makes clear that a pictogram in prescribed form is an acceptable alternative to wording about drinking before and during pregnancy.
	Inclusion of a logo in place of part of the wording of the web address drinkaware.co.uk did not form part of the voluntary agreement. The Department is sceptical that this logo has wide consumer recognition, but is open to discussing any evidence to the contrary.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for implementing his decisions following the consultation on the alcohol strategy.

Dawn Primarolo: We will announce our decisions later in the year.

Alcoholic Drinks: Research

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what procedures will be followed to analyse responses to his Department's public consultation on the alcohol strategy;
	(2)  when his Department's analysis of responses to its public consultation on the alcohol strategy will be complete.

Dawn Primarolo: The public consultation on alcohol, "Safe. Sensible. Social - Consultation on further action", is being carried out under the Cabinet Office code of practice on consultations. This code also sets out criteria for how the analysis should be conducted.
	A summary of the responses will be published within three months at the end of the consultation period, which means that the responses will be published by 14 January 2009.

Alcoholic Drinks: Retail Trade

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to ensure that the outcome of his Department's consultation on alcohol strategy  (a) does not have a disproportionate effect on small retailers and  (b) is consistent in its treatment of all sectors of the alcohol retail market.

Dawn Primarolo: Yes.

Cancer: Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what benchmarking data his Department collects on the use of cancer treatments in comparable health economies; and what estimate his Department has made of the cost of bringing the UK's use of cancer treatments into line with those benchmarks.

Ann Keen: We do not routinely collect data on the use of cancer treatments in comparable health economies.

Care Homes: Fees and Charges

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in charges for  (a) residential and  (b) non-residential care, broken down by local authority area, in each of the last five financial years for which figures are available.

Phil Hope: Data on client contributions made to Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) is collected and published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care. Data on the total amount of charges paid by service users in England for their care is not available centrally; information is not collected on fees paid for care where the service user receives no funding from the council, except in cases where they are resident in a council-run home or receive council-provided non-residential care. However, information is collected on fees paid by service users where they are part funded by the council and pay the remainder themselves. The available information on client contributions, by CASSR, for residential care and community based services between 2003-04 and 2007-08, has been placed in the Library.

Care Homes: Infectious Diseases

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) cases of healthcare-acquired infections and  (b) deaths where the death certificate refers to a healthcare-acquired infection there were in care homes in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by (i) type of infection and (ii) type of care home.

Ann Keen: The information requested specifying the number of cases of healthcare associated infections in care homes is not available. The surveillance schemes for methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections and  Clostridium difficile infections collect data on where the patient was located when the specimen was taken. It is not possible to attribute reliably the origin of an infection to care homes or other settings from this information.
	Death certificates record the place where a person dies, but not where any infections may have been acquired. Patients are often transferred between hospitals, nursing/care homes and other establishments and may acquire infections in a different location from their place of death.
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes analyses of deaths in England and Wales where MRSA or  Clostridium difficile is mentioned on the death certificate but these data do not indicate if the infection was acquired in hospital or elsewhere. The latest year for which figures are available is 2007; the data are published in Health Statistics Quarterly. This has already been placed in the Library.
	The following tables, supplied by ONS, provide data on the proportion of all death certificates in NHS nursing homes, non-NHS nursing homes, private residential homes, and local authority residential homes in England and Wales where MRSA or  Clostridium difficile were recorded, from 2005 to 2007, the latest year for which figures are available. Table 1 presents the proportion of certificates where MRSA or  Clostridium difficile were mentioned and table 2 presents the proportion where MRSA or  Clostridium difficile were recorded as the underlying cause of death.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of death certificates where methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus( 1)  or Clostridium difficile( 2)  was mentioned, by place of death,( 3)  England and Wales, 2005-07( 4) 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			  NHS nursing home
			 MRSA 17 15 12 
			  C. difficile 24 50 69 
			 
			  Non-NHS nursing home
			 MRSA 89 69 82 
			  C. difficile 80 147 232 
			 
			  Private residential home
			 MRSA 39 27 37 
			  C. difficile 32 70 116 
			 
			  Local authority residential home
			 MRSA 9 7 5 
			  C. difficile 8 24 21 
			 (1) Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004). Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993-2002. "Health Statistics Quarterly" 21, 15-22. (2) Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics: Report: Deaths involving  Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 2001-2005. "Health Statistics Quarterly" 33, 71-75. (3) Death certificates record the place where a person dies, but not where any infections may have been acquired. (4) Deaths registered in each calendar year 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of death certificates where methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus( 1)  or Clostridium difficile( 2)  was recorded as the underlying cause of death, by place of death,( 3 ) England and Wales, 2005-07( 4) 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			  NHS nursing home
			 MRSA 5 8 2 
			  C. difficile 14 26 36 
			 
			  Non-NHS nursing home
			 MRSA 18 13 22 
			  C. difficile 49 80 124 
			 
			  Private residential home
			 MRSA 11 4 5 
			  C. difficile 18 39 59 
			 
			  Local authority residential home
			 MRSA 1 3 2 
			  C. difficile 4 14 12 
			 (1) Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004). Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993-2002. "Health Statistics Quarterly" 21, 15-22. (2) Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics: Report: Deaths involving  Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 2001-2005. "Health Statistics Quarterly" 33, 71-75. (3) Death certificates record the place where a person dies, but not where any infections may have been acquired. (4) Deaths registered in each calendar year.

Cholesterol

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration he gave to setting the quality and outcomes framework measure for cholesterol management in accordance with guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The development of new indicators for the quality and outcomes framework are considered following an analysis of the evidence base which is carried out by an independent expert panel. Any subsequent changes are made following negotiations between NHS employers and the general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association.

Chronically Sick: Health Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to evaluate the  (a) implementation and  (b) outcomes of the national service framework for long-term medical conditions.

Ann Keen: The national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions was published in March 2005, and will be implemented over 10 years with flexibility for local health and social care communities to take account of local priorities and needs. A copy of this document has been placed in the Library.
	The Department has provided service planners, commissioners and providers with guidance, expert advice and support to help them to deliver the NSF's quality requirements. However, in line with devolving responsibility to local organisations, we are moving to a new phase with much greater emphasis on local health and social care communities and the third sector taking responsibility for driving forward service change and improvement. This also recognises that the NSF is not a stand-alone priority but that it needs to be closely aligned and integrated into mainstream NHS and social services activity.

Contraceptives

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged  (a) 16 to 24,  (b) 25 to 34,  (c) 35 to 45 and  (d) 46 or more years were taken off combined levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol preparations and prescribed an alternative contraceptive in each of the last five years, broken down by alternative contraception prescribed.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested.

Dementia: Drugs

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1348W, on dementia: drugs, if he will set out details of  (a) the work programme and  (b) the consultation and stakeholder engagement that is currently being undertaken.

Phil Hope: Priority is currently being given to work on finalising the National Dementia Strategy and Implementation Plan. This involves analysis of the findings from over 50 consultation events throughout the country, and over 500 written responses. Details of the work programme and stakeholder engagement for the review of the prescription of anti-psychotic drugs to people with dementia will be set out when the review is published in early 2009.

Dementia: Research

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is being spent on Government commissioned and funded medical research on  (a) Alzheimer's disease and  (b) other forms of dementia in 2008-09.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not yet available.
	In 2007-08, national health service support for degenerative neurological disorder research and National Institute for Health Research investment in dementia research amounted to some £23 million.
	The Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust announced on 2 October 2008 their intention to make £30 million available to boost research into neurodegenerative diseases.

Dental Services

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made on the adequacy of the current level of access to NHS dentistry.

Ann Keen: The Department estimated in 2000 that there are some two million people in England who would like to access national health service dental services but are unable to do so.
	Since the reforms to the dental contractual arrangements introduced in April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs) are now responsible for assessing local need and developing services to meet this need. Increasing the number of patients seen within the NHS dental service is now a national priority in "The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2008-09". We have supported this with an 11 per cent. uplift in overall dental allocations to PCTs worth £2,081 million (net of patient charge income). Copies of the operating framework have already been placed in the Library.

Departmental Freedom of Information

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in relation to what requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on  (a) abortion,  (b) contraception,  (c) reproductive health issues and  (d) euthanasia refused by his Department appeals were made to the Information Commissioner in each year since 2005; how many such appeals were successful; if he will place in the Library copies of the information subsequently provided by his Department in each case; how much was spent by his Department opposing each appeal; what (i) consultants and (ii) law firms his Department employed in connection with each appeal; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Since 2005, requesters have complained twice to the Information Commissioner about the Department's handling of applications for information about abortions under Freedom of Information legislation; one in 2005 and one in 2006. In the first case, the Information Commissioner decided that the Department should release information and a copy of the information was released to the applicant and has already been placed in the Library. In the second case, the Information Commissioner decided in July 2008 that the Department should release the information. After careful consideration and taking into account all the circumstances in both cases, the Department has lodged grounds for appeal with the Information Tribunal and is currently undertaking preparatory work. The Information Commissioner has not received similar complaints about the Department's refusal of requests on contraception, reproductive health issues and euthanasia.
	Legal advice in both cases is provided to the Department by DH Legal Services, which is part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) legal group. DH Legal Services provides a full range of legal services to the Department including arranging representation in court. No external consultants were employed in either case. No consultants or law firms were instructed in relation to these cases, although DH Legal Services sought advice from Counsel in relation to some matters. The costs associated with these two cases have amounted to £4,400.00 to date. The Department is not expecting the outstanding appeal from the 2006 case to be heard in the current calendar year and therefore the law firm representing the Department is yet to be identified.

Departmental Private Finance Initiative

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value is of off-balance sheet private finance initiative projects that his Department proposes to enter on its balance sheet in the present financial year.

Ben Bradshaw: A small number of national health service PFI schemes are regarded under current accounting standards as 'on balance sheet'. The asset/liability reported for these schemes for the latest year for which audited accounts are available, 2007-08, are in the following table. We expect these to continue to be reported as on balance sheet for the current financial year (2008-09).
	
		
			  On balance sheet PF I s 2007-08 
			   £ 000 
			  NHS Body  
			 Devon PCT 2,238 
			 Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust 51,299 
			 Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 6,357 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 39,832 
			 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 112,875 
			  Notes:  All figures in £000  Source:  Audited financial monitoring and accounts forms 2007-08. 
		
	
	The Chancellor announced in the March 2008 budget that the accounts of central Government Departments would be produced under international financial reporting standards from financial year 2009-10. The Department is now undertaking a full assessment of moving to the new standards which includes examining the accounting and resource implications for the NHS's private finance initiative and other public-private partnership schemes currently accounted for as off balance sheet.

Doctors: Disciplinary Proceedings

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-UK registered doctors in further training in the NHS have been the subject of  (a) disciplinary and  (b) criminal proceedings for the examination of a patient for which they had no authority.

Ann Keen: The Department does not collect this information centrally, and is not directly involved in the disciplining of individual doctors. Decisions about whether a doctor should be disciplined are a matter for the General Medical Council.

Doctors: Manpower

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors per 100,000 residents there were in  (a) Chesterfield,  (b) Derbyshire and  (c) England in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The average number of general practitioners per 100,000 population in  (b) Derbyshire and  (c) England in each year since 1997 is shown as follows, along with the number of hospital doctors per 100,000 population in England in each year since 1997.
	The number of general practitioners for Chesterfield and hospital doctors per 100,000 population for Chesterfield and Derbyshire are not available.
	Although primary care trusts (PCTs) serve a defined geographical area, hospital trusts are not defined in this way. Consequently, it is not possible to give a figure for the number of doctors per 100,000 population as it would only include those employed directly by the PCT and would be incomplete.
	
		
			  All GPs (excluding retainers and registrars) per 100,000 population for selected organisations in England, as at 1997  to  2007 
			  Number (headcount) 
			1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  England total 28,046 28,251 28,467 28,593 28,802 29,202 30,358 31,523 32,738 33,091 33,364 
			  
			  Total specified organisations 503 513 508 512 518 545 573 595 607 611 622 
			  
			 QCH North Derbyshire HA 191 195 199 193 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 QCJ South Derbyshire HA 312 318 309 319 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			  
			 5N7 Derby City PCT n/a n/a n/a n/a 142 143 149 154 155 159 161 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a 376 402 424 441 452 452 461 
			  
			   Per 100,000 population
			  
			  England total 57.6 57.9 58.1 58.1 58.2 58.8 60.9 62.9 64.9 65.2 65.3 
			  
			  Total specified organisations 53.9 54.7 54.0 54.2 55.5 58.1 60.8 62.8 63.8 63.9 64.7 
			  
			 QCH North Derbyshire HA 51.6 52.7 53.6 51.9 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 QCJ South Derbyshire HA 55.4 56.0 54.2 55.7 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			  
			 5N7 Derby City PCT n/a n/a n/a n/a 61.5 61.6 64.0 65.8 65.9 67.3 67.7 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a 53.5 56.9 59.7 61.8 63.1 62.7 63.7 
		
	
	
		
			  Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Medical and dental staff( 2)  within specified organisations in England, 1997  to  2007 
			  Number (headcount) 
			1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  England 60,230 62,140 63,994 66,067 68,484 72,168 76,400 82,951 87,043 90,243 91,790 
			  
			 RFS Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 191 202 209 205 229 233 247 260 265 281 306 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 50 51 53 53 55 44 
			  
			  
			   Per 100,000 population
			  
			  England(3) 123.8 127.3 130.5 134.2 138.5 145.3 153.2 165.5 172.5 177.8 179.7 
			 n/a = Not applicable (1) In 2006 Amber Valley PCT, Chesterfield PCT, Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire PCT, Erewash PCT, High Peak and Dales PCT and North Eastern Derbyshire PCT merged to form Derbyshire County PCT. Figures prior to 2006 are an aggregate of these six predecessor organisations. (2) Figure excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part time in hospitals. (3) Although PCTs serve a defined geographical area, hospital trusts are not defined in this way. Consequently it is not possible to give a figure for the number of doctors and nurses per 100,000 population as it would only include those employed directly by the PCT and would be incomplete.  Notes: 1. Data for Chesterfield are not available. Data are available for trusts and PCTs that provide or provided services within the Chesterfield constituency. 2. Data are not available for the specific geographical area of Derbyshire. The data used here are for both PCTs within Derbyshire for comparability as they were formed from the two former health authorities in Derbyshire. 3. Data as at 1 October 1997-99, 30 September 2000-07.  Sources: 1. The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics. 2. ONS Population figures 1997-2000 mid-year estimates based on 1991 census, 2001-07 mid year estimates based on 2001 census.

General Practitioners: Pharmacy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many responses  (a) in total and  (b) which deal with proposals for dispensing GPs he received to the pharmacy White Paper;
	(2)  what recent representations the British Medical Association has made to his Department on dispensing GPs, with particular reference to the proposals in the pharmacy White Paper.

Phil Hope: The pharmacy White Paper published on 3 April 2008 set out the Government's programme for taking forward national health service pharmaceutical services. We held a series of well attended national events in May 2008 to hear views on the programme and its implementation, including ideas concerning dispensing doctors. A summary report of these events has been placed in the Library and published on the Department's website on 27 August at:
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_083815
	In addition, we received a response from the Independent Pharmacy Association and officials have also met various stakeholders, including members of the general practitioners' committee of the British Medical Association, subsequent to publication to discuss areas in more detail.
	We are currently consulting, as promised in the White Paper, on a number of proposals for legislative reform, including dispensing by doctors. That consultation ends on 20 November 2008. This consultation is also supported by national listening events that representatives of the British Medical Association are attending.

Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care episodes related to  (a) health visiting,  (b) community nursing,  (c) district nursing,  (d) community psychiatric nursing,  (e) community learning disability nursing,  (f) specialist care nursing,  (g) chiropody services,  (h) clinical psychology, (i) occupational therapy,  (j) physiotherapy,  (k) speech and language therapy and  (l) community dental services there were in each year since 1990-91.

Ann Keen: Information about the number of episodes of care is not collected centrally. Some information about the number of new episodes of care is available for 1990-91 to 1999-2000 in fig. 7.2 of the Departmental Report 2001 and for 1998-99 to 2003-04 in fig. 7.2 of the departmental report 2005. Copies of these reports have already been placed in the Library.
	More recent data for community dental services is available, and is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of episodes of care with initial contact in the year for the specified financial years in England 
			   Number (Thousand) 
			 2004-05 444 
			 2005-06 396 
			  Source:  The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. 
		
	
	Information was not collected for 2003-04 and no information is available since 2005-06 due to changes following the introduction of the new dental contractual arrangements on 1 April 2006.
	As part of the Department's initiative to reduce the burden of data collection on national health service front-line staff, the activity data returns on community nursing were discontinued from April 2004 and those on cross-sector therapy services from April 2005.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1713-4W, on hospitals: infectious diseases, if he will take steps to provide more recent figures than those pertaining to 1994-5.

Ann Keen: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 October 2008,  Official Report, column 307W, on hospital infectious diseases which refers to a Public Health Laboratory Service study in 1999(1). The figures in the study are based on a detailed survey of the services and resources needed to treat infections at that time. This major piece of work took several years to complete. The study is still the best estimate of total resource required for each health care acquired infection and current costs can be calculated by applying standard deflators. It will be possible to provide figures for 2007-08 when the relevant deflator is available. When considering cost-per-case, we consider this indicator to be more useful than one that apportions costs across all in-patient episodes.
	(1) R. Plowman, N. Graves, M. Griffin, J. A. Roberts, A. V. Swan, B. Cookson, L. Taylor. The socio-economic burden of hospital acquired infection. Public Health Laboratory Service 1999.

Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation his Department undertook with  (a) the public and  (b) sexual health professionals before deciding to award the human papillomavirus contract to Cervavix.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department did not consult with the public or sexual health professionals regarding the decision to adopt Cervarix rather than Gardasil as the human papillomavirus vaccine for the national programme to protect against cervical cancer. The decision was based on specific criteria that are available in the reply I gave to the hon. Members for Boston and Skegness and Norwich, North on 2 July 2008,  Official Report, column 943W.

In Vitro Fertilisation: Finance

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many strategic health authorities in England provide no more than one cycle of IVF treatment per patient.

Dawn Primarolo: In a survey carried out by the Department in autumn 2007, all primary care trusts (PCTs) in the South East Coast and South Central strategic health authorities (SHAs) reported a maximum provision of one cycle of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). PCTs across other SHAs reported providing one or more cycles. From April 2009 the East of England SHA will move to three cycles of IVF in line with the fertility guideline produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. A copy of this has been placed in the Library.

Junior Doctors: Training

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what length and type of training trainee and junior doctors undertake at each medical school on the dispensing of medicines; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The training of doctors in medical school is the responsibility of the General Medical Council, which has the statutory responsibility to determine the extent and knowledge and skill required for the granting of primary medical qualifications in the UK.
	The content and standard of postgraduate medical training is the responsibility of the postgraduate medical education and training board, which is the competent authority for postgraduate medical training in the UK.

Maternity Services: Expenditure

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on NHS maternity services in each region of England in each financial year from 1997-98 to 2001-02.

Ann Keen: Information on maternity services expenditure is not available by region prior to 2001-02. However, the following tables show the expenditure for maternity services in England for the years 1997-98 to 2000-01 and the expenditure by strategic health authority (SHA) in 2001-02.
	
		
			   £000 
			 1997-98 1,043,881 
			 1998-99 1,096,158 
			 1999-2000 1,166,694 
			 2000-01 1,258,609 
		
	
	
		
			  Expenditure by SHA 2001-02 
			  SHA  £000 
			 East Midlands SHA 123,752 
			 East of England 126,609 
			 London 197,048 
			 North East 73,252 
			 North West 210,257 
			 South Central 90,578 
			 South East Coast 104,604 
			 South West 130,547 
			 West Midlands 145,014 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 123,119 
			 Total 1,324,780 
			  Source: Data are from audited health authority summarisation forms for all years and from primary care trust audited summarisation forms for 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Medical Treatments

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on changes to its working practices following judgements in recent judicial review cases.

Dawn Primarolo: The details of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE's) working practices are a matter for the Institute. Departmental officials regularly meet with NICE to discuss matters affecting its future business, but have not met to discuss working practices in the light of judicial reviews.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 35 of his Department's resource accounts for 2007-08, if he will place in the Library a list of each of the 442 significant control issues, stating in which NHS trust each occurred.

Ben Bradshaw: The list of 442 significant control issues reported by national health service trusts and primary care trusts in their statements of internal control for 2007-08, and referred to in the Department's resource accounts for 2007-08, has been placed in the Library.

NHS: Managers

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he holds on  (a) the number of senior managers who left the NHS with redundancy payments and who have subsequently returned to direct or indirect employment by the NHS and  (b) the value of redundancy payments paid in such cases.

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.

Nurses: Manpower

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses per 100,000 residents there were in  (a) Chesterfield,  (b) Derbyshire and  (c) England in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The average number of practice nurses per 100,000 population in  (b) Derbyshire and  (c) England in each year since 1997 is shown in the tables along with the number of nurses employed in hospitals and the community in England in each year since 1997.
	The number of practice nurses per 100,000 population for  (a) Chesterfield and the number of hospital and community nurses per 100,000 population for Chesterfield and Derbyshire are not available.
	Although primary care trusts (PCTs) serve a defined geographical area, hospital trusts are not defined in this way. Consequently it is not possible to give a figure for the number of nurses per 100,000 population, as it would only include those employed directly by the PCT and would be incomplete.
	
		
			  All practice nurses per 100,000 population for selected organisations in England, as at 1997-2007 
			  N umber (headcount) 
			1997( 1)  1998( 1)  1999( 1)  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  England total n/a n/a n/a 19,200 19,846 20,983 21,667 22,144 22,904 23,797 22,860 
			  
			  Total specified organisations n/a n/a n/a 351 351 385 377 433 422 456 486 
			  
			 QCH North Derbyshire HA n/a n/a n/a 128 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 QCJ South Derbyshire HA n/a n/a n/a 223 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			  
			 5N7 Derby City PCT n/a n/a n/a n/a 112 122 123 132 129 132 135 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT(2) n/a n/a n/a n/a 239 263 254 301 293 324 351 
			  
			   Per 100,000 population
			  
			  England total n/a n/a n/a 39.0 40.1 42.3 43.5 44.2 45.4 46.9 44.7 
			  
			  Total specified organisations n/a n/a n/a 37.2 37.6 41.0 40.0 45.7 44.3 47.7 50.5 
			 QCH North Derbyshire HA n/a n/a n/a 34.4 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 QCJ South Derbyshire HA n/a n/a n/a 38.9 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			  
			 5N7 Derby City PCT n/a n/a n/a n/a 48.5 52.6 52.8 56.4 54.9 55.9 56.7 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT(2) n/a n/a n/a n/a 34.0 37.3 35.8 42.2 40.9 45.0 48.5 
		
	
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in England by specified organisation, 1997-2007 
			  N umber (headcount) 
			1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  England 300,467 304,563 310,142 316,752 330,535 346,537 364,692 375,371 381,257 374,538 376,737 
			  
			 RFS Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 789 818 823 757 887 907 898 938 1,032 964 975 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT(3) n/a n/a n/a n/a 763 1,276 1,282 1,331 1,394 1,271 1,280 
			  
			   Per 100,000  p opulation
			  
			  England(2) 617.4 623.8 632.5 643.4 668.4 697.9 731.3 749.1 755.5 737.8 737.4 
			 n/a = Not applicable. (1) Practice nurse headcount figures are not available on the annual census prior to 2000. (2) Although PCTs serve a defined geographical area, hospital trusts are not defined in this way. Consequently it is not possible to give a figure for the number of doctors and nurses per 100,000 population as it would only include those employed directly by the PCT and would be incomplete. (3) In 2006 Amber Valley PCT, Chesterfield PCT, Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire PCT, Erewash PCT, High Peak and Dales PCT and North Eastern Derbyshire PCT merged to form Derbyshire County PCT. Figures prior to 2006 are an aggregate of these six predecessor organisations.  Notes: 1. Data for Chesterfield is not available. Data is available for Trusts and PCTs that provide or provided services within the Chesterfield constituency. 2. Data is not available for the specific geographical area of Derbyshire. The data used here is for both PCTs within Derbyshire for comparability as they were formed from the two former health authorities in Derbyshire. 3. Data as at 1 October 1997-99, 30 September 2000-07.  Sources: 1. The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics 2. ONS Population figures 1997-2000 mid-year estimates based on 1991 census, 2001-2007 mid year estimates based on 2001 census

Nurses: Schools

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent school nurses there are; and how many full-time equivalent school nurses there have been in each of the last 10 years for which data are available.

Ann Keen: The annual NHS workforce census collected accurate information on the number of school nurses employed by the national health service in England for the first time in 2004. The number of school nurses from 2004-2007 is shown in the following table.
	The 2007 census showed that there were 2,232 qualified nurses in the school nursing area of work, an increase of 613 or 38 per cent. since 2004. Of these there were 893 school nurses with a post-registration school nurse qualification. This is an increase of 286 or 47 per cent. since 2004.
	
		
			  School nurse numbers: England 
			   2004  2005  2006( 1)  2007  Increase 2004-07  Percentage increase since 2004 
			 Headcount   
			 Qualified School nurses 2,409 2,887 2,968 3,162 753 31 
			  O f which:   
			 Qualified School nurses with a post registration school nursing qualification 856 943 1,129 1,227 371 43 
			
			 Full-time equivalent   
			 Qualified School nurses 1,619 1,913 2,053 2,232 613 38 
			  O f which:   
			 Qualified School Nurses with a post registration school nursing qualification 607 665 815 893 286 47 
			 (1) More accurate validation processes in 2006 have resulted in the identification and removal of 9,858 duplicate non-medical staff records out of the total workforce figure of 1.3 million in 2006. Earlier years' figures could not be accurately validated in this way and so will be slightly inflated. The level of inflation in earlier years' figures is estimated to be less than one per cent of total across all non-medical staff groups for headcount figures (and negligible for full-time equivalents). This should be taken into consideration when analysing trends over time.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care, non-medical workforce census, general and personal medical services statistics.

Nurses: Schools

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the public health responsibilities of school nurses are.

Ann Keen: School nurses provide health services for the school-aged population with a particular focus on promoting health.

Patient Choice Schemes

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his announcement of 21 October 2008 on patient self-referrals, 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the likely take-up of self-referrals, broken down by socio-economic class;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to ensure that patients do not self-refer inappropriately.
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the cost of this policy in each of the next five financial years; and how many additional health professionals he expects will be needed in each year to deliver the policy, broken down by specialty;
	(4)  by what date he expects this policy to be implemented countrywide;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of the change in demand for appointments that will result from this policy being implemented, broken down by therapy or specialty; and what assessment he has made of the likely effect of such changes on waiting times.

Ann Keen: No estimates have been made centrally. It is for primary care trusts in partnership with local stakeholders, including practice based commissioners, local government and the public to determine where self-referral is clinically appropriate and value to the system and local community.
	Self-referral is not mandatory and already operates successfully in many national health service trusts and in many parts of the country. The recently published report "Self-referral pilots to musculoskeletal physiotherapy and the implications for improving access to other AHP services" showed no evidence of increased demand on services. Findings also support the idea that self-referral is associated with lower costs.
	A copy of the self-referral report has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_089516?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=175274&Rendition=Web
	It will be for local trusts to monitor access by self-referral and we will mandate the measurement of waiting times so that trusts are able to benchmark their performance.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government's commitment to remove charges for cancer patients applies to  (a) all cancers and  (b) prostate cancer; and for how long the removal of charges is to be maintained.

Dawn Primarolo: From 1 April 2009, prescription charges for all cancer patients will be abolished, and over the next few years charges will be abolished for all patients with long-term conditions. We will be making further announcements on the implementation of free prescriptions for cancer patients in due course.

Schizophrenia

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with a history of violence who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia do not voluntarily stop taking their medication while living in the community;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the medical profession complies with the new Community Treatment Orders when treating people with a history of violence who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia;
	(3)  if his Department will support doctors who refuse to allow people with a history of violence who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia to self-treat.

Phil Hope: The Mental Health Act 1983 already provides for people with mental disorders to be detained and treated compulsorily in hospital where necessary for their own health or safety, or the protection of other people. As a result of the Mental Health Act 2007, from 3 November this year it will be possible for clinicians to make a community treatment order discharging certain patients from detention onto supervised community treatment (SCT), subject to the possibility of recall to hospital for further treatment if necessary. SCT will provide a new way to help ensure that people with mental disorders continue to receive the treatment they need after leaving hospital. It will be for clinicians themselves to decide whether eligible patients should be discharged onto SCT.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what research his Department has commissioned on medical interventions to prevent genital warts;
	(2)  what his current estimate is of  (a) the average cost of treating a patient for genital warts in England and  (b) the cost of providing treatment for patients with genital warts in the last 12 months.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department has not commissioned specific research on medical interventions to prevent genital warts. The Department did however commission the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the human papillomavirus vaccines 'Economic evaluation of human papillomavirus vaccination in the United Kingdom', a copy of which has been placed in the Library. An element of this was to estimate the cost of treating a patient for anogenital warts, the HPA estimate this at £134 (2006 prices).
	Funding to support sexual health services is not allocated separately to primary care trusts (PCTs) but is contained within the mainstream revenue allocations made to PCTs. It is the responsibility of PCTs to commission the health services they need to meet the health requirements of the local populations they serve. Genital warts can be diagnosed and treated in a variety of settings but currently data are only collected from genito-urinary medicine clinics, so it is therefore not possible to accurately forecast how much PCTs spent on treating warts in the last 12 months.

Social Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were receiving local authority-funded care in each local authority area in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many people were receiving  (a) community-based care and  (b) residential care in each area.

Phil Hope: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care collects and publishes information on the number of people receiving care funded either partly or wholly by Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs). The latest validated information, as at March 2007, on the numbers of people receiving community based care and residential care funded by CASSRs has been placed in the Library.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bangladesh: Politics and Government

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government has taken to promote a peaceful transition to an elected government through the 2008 elections in Bangladesh.

Bill Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) on 7 October 2008,  Official Report, column 606W. During his October visit to Bangladesh, my noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, stressed the importance of sustainable democracy to the caretaker government, the main political parties and civil society.

Bangladesh: Politics and Government

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government has taken in the run up to elections in Bangladesh to promote free and fair elections.

Bill Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my hon. Friend the then FCO Minister of State, Dr. Howells, gave the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) on 29 January 2008,  Official Report, column 218W. During his October visit, my noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, reiterated UK support for fair and credible elections to the caretaker government, the main political parties and civil society.

Colombia: Armed Conflict

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on (i) the level of paramilitary activity and (ii) the number of internally displaced people in Colombia; and if he will publish the results of such research.

Gillian Merron: We have not commissioned specific research or evaluation on either issue. However we closely monitor these issues, alongside other human rights issues in Colombia.
	Figures vary on the numbers of internally displaced persons in Colombia, but it is clear there is a large number—in excess of three million. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees global appeal report 2008-09 contains more details (http://unhcr.org/home/PUBL/474ac8e8l4.pdf).

Departmental Pay

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) uses non-consolidated, non-pensionable bonuses to encourage high performance. We pay annual bonuses to staff in the delegated grades (i.e. all except senior managers) based on appraisal evidence of annual performance. The highest rating and bonus award is given only where performance has significantly exceeded challenging objectives and may have radically transformed delivery of policy and/or services.
	We have not yet determined pay or bonus awards for the delegated grades for performance in 2007-08. These will depend on the outcome of negotiations on a new pay settlement for staff in the delegated grades for the period 2008-11.
	Variable pay (bonus) arrangements for staff in the Senior Management Structure/Senior Civil Service (SMS/SCS) of the FCO follow a framework set centrally for Whitehall departments by the Cabinet Office. We use variable pay for SMS/SCS staff to reward excellent individual performance and achievement during the year. Variable pay decisions are based on a judgement by pay committees of what an individual has achieved in comparison with peers. Those who have delivered the best results, and shown real leadership in doing so, receive the biggest bonuses. Those who have delivered least receive nothing. Departments are authorised to spend a sum equivalent to 8.6 per cent. of their SMS/SCS pay budget on bonuses to reward performance in 2007-08.
	The FCO and FCO Services, a trading fund of the FCO, have so far spent £2,264,250 on 266 bonus payments to SMS/SCS staff for performance in 2007-08. The average size of individual bonuses has been £8,512. 30.5 per cent. of staff have not received a bonus in 2008.

Departmental Security

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many departmental identity cards or departmental passes have been reported lost or stolen by staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its executive agencies in the last 24 months.

Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), or its agencies, have kept no records, prior to January 2007 of passes reported to have been lost or stolen. Details of reports since this date are as follows:
	2007—52 passes
	2008—33 passes (figure accurate to 24 October 2008)
	FCO guidance for staff makes clear that all lost passes should be immediately reported to the police. A replacement pass cannot be issued without a crime reference number. All lost passes are deactivated immediately, to ensure they cannot be used to gain access to FCO buildings.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of reports of the alleged radicalisation and militarisation of refugees in camps in Darfur by rebel groups; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: We assess that there is a threat of violent extremism and radicalisation in the camps in Darfur given the humanitarian and security situation. We are calling on all parties to end the violence; to allow full humanitarian access; to ensure respect for international humanitarian law including the protection of civilians; and to facilitate deployment of the UN-African Union peacekeeping force. The Government continue to work closely with the UN and others to achieve these aims and to improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to monitor the potential for renewed conflict in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan; and what steps he is taking to seek to promote peace in the region.

Gillian Merron: The UK monitors the Nuba mountains and the rest of the "transitional areas" (the Blue Nile, Abeyi and the other parts of the Southern Kordofan) through the UN Mission in Sudan and the Security Working Group of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission which we chair.
	We remain concerned about the need to promote peace and reduce the potential for conflict in the Nuba mountains. The UK led a security assessment of the transitional areas, including the Nuba mountains, earlier this year and has established a steering group to address key stability priorities. In 2009-10 we will spend up to £4 million on community security and peace-building in southern Sudan, with much of this money going to the transitional areas.

Thailand: Borders

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government has taken to encourage a peaceful resolution of the situation on the Thailand-Cambodia border.

Bill Rammell: We are closely following the situation on the Thai/Cambodia border. I issued a statement on 16 October urging both sides to exercise restraint and take immediate steps to ease tension and find a peaceful solution to their dispute. Our embassies in Bangkok and Phnom Penh are in regular contact with the Thai and Cambodian Governments, encouraging both sides to resolve this dispute peacefully.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department for Work and Pensions recruited 6,393 people between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008. Of these new recruits, 344 (5.4 per cent.) were aged between 55 and 59 and 117 (1.8 per cent.) were aged over 60.

Employee Assistance Programme

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff his Department employs to deliver his Department's Employee Assistance Programme, broken down by  (a) region and  (b) pay band.

Jonathan R Shaw: The DWP Employee Assistance Programme contract is administered centrally from the Leeds headquarter office by 0.2 pay band F, 0.2 pay band E and 0.5 pay band D, with a senior civil service pay band 1 providing an oversight.

Employee Assistance Programme

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many counsellors there are in his Department's Employee Assistance Programme, broken down by region.

Jonathan R Shaw: There are 19 counsellors delivering the DWP Employee Assistance Programme, with each Government Office Region having at least one counsellor allocated. Additional support from up to 1,200 accredited counsellors spread across the United Kingdom is also available as and when required.

Employee Assistance Programme

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how the counselling service offered by his Department's Employee Assistance Programme is delivered to staff in Jobcentre Plus offices who request it.

Jonathan R Shaw: The counselling service offered across DWP, including Jobcentre Plus, provided by the Employee Assistance Programme provider is delivered by the most appropriate means, depending on circumstances, usually by face to face or by telephone.

Employee Assistance Programme

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether requests by staff for services offered by his Department's Employee Assistance Programme are recorded.

Jonathan R Shaw: All requests are recorded and reported in anonymous form to the DWP contract management team by the Employee Assistance Programme service provider.

Incapacity Benefit: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children in the London Borough of Bexley are dependent on parents or guardians whose main income source is incapacity benefit.

Jonathan R Shaw: At April 2007, 1,380 children aged 0 to 15 were dependent on a parent or guardian who was claiming incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance.
	 Notes
	1. Data represents a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically.
	2. Data represents children dependent on a parent or guardian claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance as their main benefit.
	3. The Department does not have complete information on child dependents on the benefit computer systems. Therefore children have been merged onto incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC.
	 Source
	DWP Information Directorate

Jobseekers Allowance

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1232W, on jobseekers allowance, how many of those jobseeker's allowance claimants aged 16 to 24 years who terminated their claim more than five but less than six months after making an initial claim, moved onto  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) income support after (i) one week, (ii) one month, (iii) three months, (iv) six months and (v) one year of termination.

James Purnell: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of jobseeker's allowance terminations aged 16 to 24, who terminate their claim between 5 and 6 months, then flow on to incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance 
			Flowed on to incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance 
			  Quarter ending  Number of jobseeker's allowance terminations  All  Within 1 week  More than a week but less than 1 month  More than a month but less than 3 months  More than 3 months but less than 6 months  More than 6 months but less than a year  More than 1 year 
			 August 2005 10,600 2,100 600 100 100 200 400 700 
			 November 2005 11,000 1,800 500 100 200 200 300 500 
			 February 2006 8,600 1,600 500 100 100 100 400 n/a 
			 May 2006 13,000 1,900 600 100 200 300 500 n/a 
			 August 2006 11,900 1,500 500 100 100 300 400 n/a 
			 November 2006 11,000 900 500 0 100 100 200 n/a 
			 February 2007 9,600 700 400 100 100 100 n/a n/a 
			 May 2007 11,900 800 500 100 200 n/a n/a n/a 
			 August 2007 10,400 800 600 100 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			  Notes:  1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding.  2. Data commence in 2005 to ensure capture of information on people flowing on to incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance up to 12 months after the termination of their claim.  3. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. Figures for previous quarters may also be subject to revisions in future quarters.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample and 5 per cent. terminations dataset. 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of jobseeker's allowance terminations aged 16 to 24, who terminate their claim between 5 and 6 months, then flow on to income support 
			Flowed on to income support 
			  Quarter ending  Number of jobseeker's allowance terminations  All  Within 1 week  More than a week but less than 1 month  More than a month but less than 3 months  More than 3 months but less than 6 months  More than 6 months but less than a year  More than 1 year 
			 August 2005 10,600 2,300 600 200 200 200 400 700 
			 November 2005 11,000 2,000 700 200 100 200 200 500 
			 February 2006 8,600 2,100 800 200 200 200 400 n/a 
			 May 2006 13,000 2,000 700 100 200 300 400 n/a 
			 August 2006 11,900 1,700 600 100 200 200 500 n/a 
			 November 2006 11,000 1,300 800 100 100 100 100 n/a 
			 February 2007 9,600 1,000 700 100 0 100 n/a n/a 
			 May 2007 11,900 1,000 600 100 200 n/a n/a n/a 
			 August 2007 10,400 1,000 800 200 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			  Notes:  1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding.  2. Data commence in 2005 to ensure capture of information on people flowing on to income support up to 12 months after the termination of their claim.  3. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. Figures for previous quarters may also be subject to revisions in future quarters.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample and 5 per cent. terminations dataset.

Members: Correspondence

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on whether chief executives of his Department's executive agencies should reply personally to letters sent directly to them by hon. Members.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 17 October 2008
	 As set out in the Department's departmental framework, published in December 2005, the Secretary of State normally asks the relevant chief executive to write to Members of Parliament or peers in response to individual letters about matters that have been delegated. Ministers also encourage Members of both Houses to write directly to agency chief executives, or appropriate senior managers in respect of non-agency businesses, on matters for which they have day to day responsibility. Members of Parliament and peers are entitled to raise with Ministers any reply from a chief executive or other official.

Members: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department's office at Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, plans to reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West's correspondence of 2 September on his constituent Mrs. Janette Ramsay.

Jonathan R Shaw: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 24 October 2008.

Pensioners: Poverty

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of pensioners living in poverty in West Chelmsford constituency.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 27 October 2008
	Poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue and, as such, there are many possible measures of poverty.
	Our public service agreement "Tackle poverty and promote greater independence and wellbeing in later life" includes a range of indicators related to low income for pensioners. These are relative low income (below 50 and 60 per cent. contemporary median household income), and absolute low income (below 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income uprated in line with prices), all measured after housing costs have been taken into account.
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below the level of Government Office Region. Latest information for East of England on the numbers of pensioners below each of these thresholds is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of pensioners falling below various thresholds of median household income, after housing costs, East of England, 2004-05  to  2006-07 
			   Number (million) 
			 Below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income 0.2 
			 Below 50 per cent. of contemporary median household income 0.1 
			 Below 60 per cent. of the 1998-99 median household income uprated in line with prices 0.1 
			 1. Three survey year averages are given as regional single year estimates are subject to volatility. 2. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or "equivalised") for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 3. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors. 4. Figures are based on survey data and as such are subject to a degree of sampling and non-sampling error. 5. Numbers of pensioners in low income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 pensioners.

Poverty: Children

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children have been moved out of poverty in  (a) Leeds West constituency,  (b) Leeds City area and  (c) the UK since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: The available information, published in the "Households Below Average Income Series", is that between 1998-99 and 2006-07 there was a 600,000 reduction in the number of children living in households with incomes below 60 per cent., of median contemporary income Before Housing Costs.
	Figures before 1998-99 cover only GB, not the UK as a whole.
	The Households Below Average Income Series cannot provide information below the level of Government office region.
	The constituencies of Leeds West and Leeds Metropolitan are within the Government Office Region for Yorkshire and the Humber. In Yorkshire and the Humber between 2004-05 and 2006-07, on a Before Housing Costs basis, there were on average 0.3 million children living in a household with below 60 per cent. of median income.
	Since 1996-97 to1998-99, the risk of living in a household with below 60 per cent., median income for children in Yorkshire and Humberside has fallen from 32 per cent. to 25 per cent. in 2004-05 to 2006-07.
	When presenting results by Government Office Region, in order to ensure that estimates of changes over time yield a reliable picture of how different regions have experienced changes, the risk and number of children living in poverty by region is given as a three year average. The latest three year average is for 2004-05 to 2006-07.

Social Security Benefits: Overseas Residence

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the effect on benefit entitlement is for someone who leaves the UK to live overseas for a number of years and then returns to the UK.

Kitty Ussher: If a person returns to the United Kingdom from overseas and makes an immediate claim for an income-related benefit such as income support, pension credit, housing benefit or council tax benefit they are required to satisfy the habitual residence test. To satisfy the test a person must first show that they have a right to reside and secondly that they are habitually resident in the Common Travel Area (CTA). The CTA includes the UK, as well as the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland.
	In deciding whether a person is habitually resident, decision makers, who decide entitlement to benefit, consider a wide variety of factors. These include reasons for coming to the United Kingdom, the length of their stay, future intentions, previous links with the country and, in the case of people returning to the United Kingdom, the reasons for their absence.
	Contributory benefits are generally payable to anyone that satisfies the contribution and other conditions for the benefit regardless of nationality and length of time in the United Kingdom.

TICC Skill Centres: Redundancy

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 623-24W, on TICC Ltd: redundancy, what his Department's policy is on the retention and destruction of such records.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department's policy on the retention and destruction of such documents is set out in the DWP Registered File Guide, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

TICC Skill Centres: Redundancy

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 623-4W, on TICC Ltd: redundancy, whether his Department consulted other departments and public bodies on the availability of such records before providing a response.

Jonathan R Shaw: Yes. The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families were consulted, but it was not believed at that point that any such records existed.

TICC Skill Centres: Redundancy

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 623-4W, on TICC Ltd: Redundancy, what the reasons were for the time taken to reply.

Jonathan R Shaw: As this matter dated back to the early 1990s, it was not clear at the time when the earlier question was asked which Department had responsibility for residual matters relating to TICC Ltd. This necessitated discussions between officials in this Department, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

TICC Skill Centres: Redundancy

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 623-4W, on TICC Ltd: Redundancy, whether the records relating to  (a) the terms of transfer of and  (b) compensation payments made to former Department of Employment staff have been destroyed.

Jonathan R Shaw: It is now clear that some records relating to the terms of the transfer of staff from the then Skills Training Agency to TICC Ltd do still exist and are currently held by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. They confirm that at the time TICC Ltd went into liquidation 48 civil servants were made redundant and received ex gratia compensation payments from public funds. The payments were based on the settlement each would have received had they been made redundant by the Skills Training Agency at the time of the sale, less any statutory redundancy pay to which they were entitled.

Unemployment: Lone Parents

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the  (a) employment and  (b) unemployment rate was for lone parents in each of the last 24 months (i) in the UK and (ii) broken down by the smallest geographical area for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply 
	to the hon. Member.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) employment and (b) unemployment rate was for lone parents in each of the last 24 months (i) nationally and (ii) broken down by the smallest geographical area for which figures are available. (230281)
	The table shows the employment and unemployment rates for lone parents of working-age with dependent children for the United Kingdom, each Government office region and for each local authority for the calendar years 2006 and 2007. Data are not available on a monthly basis. A copy of the table has been placed in the Library.
	Estimates are derived from the Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets for the periods January-December 2006 and January-December 2007.
	As the group in question is very specific the estimates at local authority level are based on very small sample sizes. Therefore, the margin of uncertainty is very large for these estimates and they are deemed unreliable for practical purposes.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her Department plans to publish plans to tackle alcohol-related crime.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 17 October 2008
	The Government have published plans to tackle alcohol related crime. The most recent of these include the Youth alcohol action plan which was published in June 2008 and the written ministerial statement of 4 March 2008 in response to the review of the Licensing Act.
	The written ministerial statement set out the Government's plan to amend legislation and to ensure that current powers to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder are being fully utilised. The Youth Alcohol Action Plan announced the Government's intention to introduce a tiered approach to address public drinking by young people. This includes greater use of acceptable behaviour contracts and antisocial behaviour orders for those that repeatedly drink in public places, coupled with greater use of parenting contracts and orders to ensure that parents take responsibility for their child's actions.
	In addition, the national alcohol strategy 'Safe.Sensible.Social' published in June 2007 set out the overarching plans to tackle alcohol related problems, one of those being alcohol related crime. Further details of the national alcohol strategy can be accessed at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/alcohol-strategy-announced?version=1

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for the offence of obtaining alcohol for a person who is drunk in each of the last three years.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 20 October 2008
	The number of people prosecuted for the offence of obtaining alcohol for someone who is drunk can be found in the following table. Data for 2007 will be available in November 2008.
	
		
			  Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for obtaining alcohol for a person who is drunk, England and Wales, 2004 to 2006( 1, 2, 3) 
			   Number 
			 2004 — 
			 2005 1 
			 2006 1 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The statutes used in the above table are;  Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 S.3 Sch. Para 7. Licensing Act 2003 S. 142

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many breaches of antisocial behaviour orders have been recorded in  (a) the London Borough of Bexley and  (b) Greater London since their inception.

Alan Campbell: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) became available from April 1999. The latest ASBO breach data are only available for the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2006.
	Information collected centrally on the number of ASBO breaches relates only to those ASBOs proven in court to have been breached and is not compiled below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level.
	For the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2006, ASBOs were proven in court to have been breached on 2,077 occasions in the Greater London CJS area. It is possible for an ASBO to be breached more than once.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many breaches of antisocial behaviour orders have been recorded in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire since their inception.

Alan Campbell: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) became available from April 1999. The latest ASBO breach data are only available for the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2006.
	Information collected centrally on the number of ASBO breaches relates only to those ASBOs proven in court to have been breached and is not compiled below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level.
	For the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2006, ASBOs were proven in court to have been breached on 253 occasions in the Hertfordshire CJS area. It is possible for an ASBO to be breached more than once.

Asylum

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each country of origin used the 1951 Convention on Refugees exemption from prosecution defence when attempting to enter the UK using false documentation in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The UK Border Force maintains no such specific records of persons benefiting from a defence under article 31 of the 1951 Convention, relating to the status of refugees.

Asylum

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum cases were concluded in each year since 2003 because the claimant's country of origin had acceded to the EU, broken down by  (a) country of origin and  (b) year of original application.

Jacqui Smith: The Home Office does not collate figures on the number of asylum cases that have been concluded in each year since 2003 because the claimant's country of origin had acceded to the EU.
	The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examining the case files of all applicants from the 12 countries that have acceded to the EU since 2003.

Asylum

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers her Department estimates used false documentation to travel to the UK in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The requested information is not collated and could be obtained only by examination of individual case records and therefore at disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers received section  (a) 4 and  (b) 95 support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in each year since the Act came into force.

Jacqui Smith: The information is as follows.
	 (a) Published information on the number of asylum seekers who were supported under section 4 is available from 2005 in the Asylum Statistics Annual Bulletin, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html.
	The following table shows the number of applicants, excluding dependants, recorded as being in receipt of Section 4 support as at the end of the period in each respective year.
	 (b) Published information on the number of asylum seekers who received section 95 support is available from 2000 in the Asylum Statistics Annual Bulletin, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	The following table shows the number of applicants, including dependants, recorded as being in receipt of section 95 support (dispersed accommodation and subsistence only) as at the end of the period in each respective year.
	
		
			  Applicants, excluding dependants, in receipt of support under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 at the end of the period( 1) 
			  As at end  Number of applicants on section four support 
			 March 2005(2) 5,200 
			 December 2005 5,180 
			 December 2006 6,555 
			 December 2007 9,140 
			 (1 )Figures rounded to the nearest 5. (2) This was the first snapshot produced on Section 4. 
		
	
	
		
			  Supported asylum seekers (including dependants) in receipt of Section 95 support at the end of the period( 1) 
			   December each year 
			  As at end:  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Asylum seekers supported in dispersed accommodation 13,530 40,325 54,045 49,760 40,750 35,140 36,420 34,150 
			 Asylum seekers in receipt of subsistence only support 8,870 25,310 37,815 30,360 20,875 14,290 11,355 8,900 
			 Total 22,400 65,635 91,860 80,125 61,625 49,430 47,775 43,050 
			 (1 )Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Asylum: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of administering section  (a) 4 and  (b) 95 support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 has been in each year since the Act came into force.

Jacqui Smith: The UK Border Agency provides a range of support for asylum seekers who are, or who may become, destitute. It is not possible to identify separately administrative costs relating to individual lines of support. Total Home Office expenditure on asylum seekers for the years 2000-01 to 2007-08 inclusive is shown as follows, as is the cost of direct support and also total administration costs:
	
		
			  £ million 
			Of which: 
			   Total Home Office expenditure on asylum support  Support costs  Administration costs 
			 2000-01 783 750 33 
			 2001-02 1,082 1,046 36 
			 2002-03 1,124 1,092 32 
			 2003-04 1,070 1,035 35 
			 2004-05 854 814 34 
			 2005-06 667 626 34 
			 2006-07 550 515 25 
			 2007-08 531 485 25

Crime: Young People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of victims of crime were aged between 14 and 19 years in  (a) the London Borough of Newham,  (b) the London Borough of Hackney,  (c) the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and  (d) London in the latest period for which figures are available.

Alan Campbell: Information on the percentage of victims of crime aged between 14 and 19 years in  (a) the London borough of Newham,  (b) the London borough of Hackney,  (c) the London borough of Tower Hamlets and  (d) London is not available from the British Crime Survey (BCS) or police recorded crime data. However, following a recommendation of the independent Smith review of the Home Office crime statistics, the British Crime Survey is being extended to include those aged under 16 years from 2009. This will assist in providing a clearer understanding of youth victimisation. We know that young people are more likely to be victims of other young people, and we are committed to driving down levels of youth victimisation. Through the implementation of the Youth Crime Action Plan, we will introduce a new national objective to substantially reduce the number of young victims by 2020.

Crime: Young People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of crimes were committed by 14 to 19 years old in  (a) the London Borough of Newham,  (b) the London Borough of Hackney,  (c) the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and  (d) London in the latest period for which figures are available.

Alan Campbell: Information on the number of crimes committed by 14 to 19-years-olds in  (a) the London borough of Newham,  (b) the London borough of Hackney,  (c) the London borough of Tower Hamlets and  (d) London in the latest period for which figures are available is not available from the British Crime Survey (BCS) or police recorded crime data.

Crime: Young People

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of crimes in Hemel Hempstead were committed by 14 to 19-year-olds in the latest period for which figures are available.

Alan Campbell: Information on the number of crimes committed by 14 to 19-year-olds in Hemel Hempstead in the latest period for which figures are available is not available from the British Crime Survey (BCS) or police recorded crime data.

Departmental Postal Services

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes her Department has made to the postal delivery service it uses for returning documents to members of the public in the last 10 years; when these changes were made; and for what reasons they were made.

Meg Hillier: To provide a response across the whole of the Home Office area of business would be disproportionate to costs. However, for passports, the Identity and Passport Service despatched passports by Royal Mail first class post until February 2004. Since then new passports have been despatched by Secure Delivery, a secure courier service provided by Secure Mail Services, a private contractor. Customers can also opt for the return of their supporting documents by Secure Delivery on payment of a fee of £3.00.
	This change was due to the high numbers of passports lost within the Royal Mail. In 2003, the last year of the Royal Mail arrangements, 3,593 passports were recorded as lost in the delivery process. Following the introduction of secure delivery, losses have been around 720 in the last two years; a reduction of over 80 per cent. The recent introduction of handheld GPS technology for couriers should significantly reduce this figure further.

Deportation: Offenders

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been paid in compensation since April 2006 to foreign prisoners held in custody beyond the expiry of their sentence while awaiting deportation.

Jacqui Smith: Information on successful claims for compensation made by foreign prisoners held in detention post sentence is not held centrally. It would be necessary to obtain information from all government agencies and departments who may have received claims for compensation at disproportionate cost.

Deportation: Offenders

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which states the UK has signed memorandums of understanding intended to facilitate the deportation from the UK of individuals who are nationals of those states; how many persons have been deported to each country under the provisions of such memorandums; and with which states the Government is seeking to agree such memorandums.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 27 October 2008
	Memoranda of understanding on deportation with assurances were signed with Jordan, Lebanon and Libya in 2005. Separate arrangements, set out in an exchange of letters in July 2006, apply in respect of Algeria.
	The Government are pursuing similar agreements with other countries, but it would not be appropriate to identify the countries concerned until the negotiations have been concluded. Copies of any new agreements will be placed in the House Library.
	To date, no-one has been deported to Jordan, Lebanon or Libya on the basis of assurances received under the memoranda of understanding with those countries. Eight men have been deported to Algeria, having withdrawn their appeals against the decision to deport them. 11 other cases are at various stages in the appeals process.

Dispersal Orders

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dispersal orders were issued by each police authority area in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: 1,065 areas were designated under section 30 of the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 between 1 January 2004 and 31 March 2006 and this information broken down by police force area is enclosed in the following table. Information on the number of designated areas for the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2008 will be published shortly.
	
		
			  Designated areas( 1) 
			  Force  Number 
			 Avon and Somerset 30 
			 Bedfordshire 29 
			 Cambridgeshire 31 
			 Cheshire 1 
			 City of London (2)— 
			 Cleveland 3 
			 Cumbria 2 
			 Derbyshire 22 
			 Devon and Cornwall 49 
			 Dorset 31 
			 Durham 2 
			 Dyfed Powys (2)— 
			 Essex 24 
			 Gloucestershire 1 
			 Greater Manchester 45 
			 Gwent 6 
			 Hampshire 69 
			 Hertfordshire 20 
			 Humberside 15 
			 Kent 73 
			 Lancashire 18 
			 Leicestershire 30 
			 Lincolnshire 4 
			 Merseyside 70 
			 Metropolitan Police (3)— 
			 Norfolk 18 
			 North Wales 16 
			 North Yorkshire 6 
			 Northamptonshire 67 
			 Northumbria 3 
			 Nottinghamshire 40 
			 South Wales 2 
			 South Yorkshire 16 
			 Staffordshire 30 
			 Suffolk 5 
			 Surrey 33 
			 Sussex 35 
			 Thames Valley 6 
			 Warwickshire 22 
			 West Midlands 123 
			 West Yorkshire 22 
			 West Mercia (3)— 
			 Wiltshire 19 
			 Total 1,065 
			 (1) January 2004 to March 2006 (2) No designated areas. (3) No data provided.

Driving Offences: Fixed Penalties

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty tickets for motoring offences were issued to non-UK residents in the last 12 months; and how many of those remain unpaid.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available.
	It is not possible from the information held by the Home Office to match persons who have been issued with fixed penalty tickets with details of residency in the UK. The statistics are collected through aggregate returns which prevent any matching with other data sources.

Drugs: Crime Prevention

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to combat drug-related crime.

Alan Campbell: The Government are committed to reducing the harms caused by illegal drugs, including drug-related crime. Most recently the Government have committed through public service agreement (PSA) 25 to reduce the harm caused by alcohol and drugs. Within this PSA three indicators relate to drugs; one of which is a commitment to reduce the rate of drug-related offending.
	Recent assessment of effectiveness has shown that good progress has been made in combating drug related crime.
	The previous public service agreement relating to drugs (PSA 4) committed the Government to reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs; a key measure of effectiveness in relation to this PSA is assessed by the Drug Harm Index, the single largest element of which is drug related crime. Latest figures show that since 2002 the Drug Harm Index has fallen by 28.4 per cent., representing a substantial fall in drug related crime types. As there is some delay in the availability of data which contribute to this measure, we continue to gather performance data relating to the previous PSA using the Drug Harm Index.
	Effectiveness in relation to PSA 4 is also assessed through monitoring the numbers of drug users entering treatment through the Criminal Justice System. The Government's target to increase the number of drug misusers entering drug treatment through the Criminal Justice System to 1,000 per week was met two months early in January 2008 and we are currently consistently achieving over 4,000 entering treatment each month.
	The Government's Drug Interventions programme (DIP) was introduced in 2003 and is central in delivering drug misusers into treatment via the criminal justice system. Recent research on DIP found that around half of offenders who came into contact with DIP had 79 per cent. lower levels of offending in the six months after their contact with the programme. The overall volume of offending for the entire cohort was 26 per cent. lower.
	Latest published figures on recorded crime show that recorded acquisitive crime—to which drug-related crime makes a significant contribution—has fallen by 28 per cent. since 2002-03.
	The Home Office also carries out a broad programme of scientific research to assess the effectiveness of individual interventions in relation to drugs. Home Office research is regularly published on the Home Office website. Much of the relevant evidence is summarised in Appendix 5 of the Government's new Drug Strategy, published in February 2008—"Drugs: protecting families and communities":
	http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/publicationsearch/drugstrategy/drugstrategy2008?view=Binary
	The new strategy underpins action to achieve Government commitments on drug related crime. The strategy sets out a comprehensive and co-ordinated framework, which builds on the significant successes of the last strategy, while placing a new focus on meeting the needs of families and communities, and on achieving better treatment outcomes for individuals who have developed drug misuse problems.
	The Government are committed to reducing drug-related crime and will continue to monitor this through the new PSAs and through research.

Firearms: Detection Rates

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate was for offences involving firearms in each of the last 10 years, broken down by  (a) offence and  (b) police force area.

Jacqui Smith: The requested information is not available centrally.

Genetics: Databases

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the British population has a DNA sample stored on the national DNA database.

Alan Campbell: At 30 June 2008, the estimated number of individuals with a record on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) held for all United Kingdom police forces was 4,503,186. The most recent estimate of the United Kingdom population published by the Office for National Statistics is that, at mid-2007, it was 60,975,000. Comparing these two figures gives a figure of 7.39 per cent. of the United Kingdom population having a record on the NDNAD. This figure does not take account of any increase in the United Kingdom population between mid-2007 and 30 June 2008, and is, therefore, likely to be a slight overstatement.

Highly Skilled Migrant Programme

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many permits were issued under the highly skilled migrant programme or tier 1 of the points based system in each month of 2008; which the top 10 countries of origin were in this period; and how many permits were issued to applicants from each of those countries.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 16 October 2008
	The information is as follows:
	
		
			  HSMP in and out of country initial applications granted, period January to September 2008 
			   January  February  March  April  May  June  July  August  Sept ember 
			 Number 2,845 2,825 2,300 2,000 1,125 1,085 1,150 1,075 2,160 
		
	
	
		
			  HSMP In and Out of Country Initial Applications Granted, Top 10 Nationalities Period January to September 2008 
			  Top 10 Nationalities  January  February  March  April  May  June  July  August  September 
			 India 1,175 1,205 915 860 385 435 635 390 120 
			 Pakistan 370 305 260 240 100 95 65 115 385 
			 Australia 175 240 205 180 155 80 85 115 345 
			 Nigeria 235 190 200 170 95 105 85 130 270 
			 New Zealand 105 130 105 80 70 60 55 65 215 
			 South Africa 85 105 110 85 55 65 45 70 240 
			 America 80 75 55 35 35 40 30 25 85 
			 China 60 65 60 40 25 10 5 10 40 
			 Sri Lanka 50 55 45 25 10 20 5 20 55 
			 Russia 30 30 20 20 10 10 10 10 50 
		
	
	
		
			  PBS Tier 1 initial applications granted, period March to September 2008 
			   March  April  May  June  July  August  September 
			 In Country 90 1,610 2,575 3,585 4,010 6,765 9,895 
			 Out of Country 0 30 190 205 590 1,075 1,370 
		
	
	
		
			  PBS Tier 1 in country only initial applications granted, top 10 nationalities period March to September 2008 
			  Top 10 Nationalities  (in country)  March  April  May  June  July  August  September 
			 India 55 895 1,440 1,895 2,020 3,120 4,005 
			 Pakistan 5 130 180 295 325 770 1,365 
			 Nigeria 0 65 105 160 265 460 775 
			 China 5 85 85 120 125 265 605 
			 Australia 5 75 125 180 160 230 280 
			 Sri Lanka 0 35 60 90 95 180 265 
			 South Africa 5 50 60 110 120 175 170 
			 America 5 35 80 80 85 145 210 
			 New Zealand 5 45 65 90 80 110 105 
			 Bangladesh 0 10 35 30 35 140 245 
		
	
	
		
			  PBS Tier 1 — out of country applications granted — top 10 nationalities  April to September  2008 
			  Top 10 Nationalities  (out of country)  April  May  Jun  July  Aug  September 
			 India 30 190 200 305 520 565 
			 United States — (1)— 5 85 140 170 
			 South Africa — — — 70 110 120 
			 New Zealand — — — 20 85 120 
			 Australia (1)— — — 30 35 105 
			 Nigeria — — — 20 50 85 
			 China — — — 25 50 55 
			 Pakistan — — — 10 45 70 
			 Canada — — — 15 30 35 
			 Russia — — — 10 10 45 
			 (1) Less than 3  Note: Figures are rounded to nearest 5 
		
	
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Human Trafficking

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) arrests and  (b) convictions there were for human trafficking offences in each police force area in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: Data on the total number of arrests are currently being finalised, and will be made available in due course, as is the number of convictions by force area.
	However, to date there have been a total of 90 convictions for trafficking for sexual exploitation with four convictions for trafficking for forced labour which were secured on 22 October.

Human Trafficking

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with  (a) ministerial colleagues and  (b) her international counterparts on combating human trafficking into the UK.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 27 October 2008
	I maintain regular contact with ministerial colleagues in relation to our strategy to combat human trafficking which is overseen by the Inter Departmental Ministerial Group and particularly on the progress made by the United Kingdom to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the end of the year as the Home Secretary announced in January.
	In the international arena we maintain a dialogue at both ministerial and official level with our partner countries through the United Nations, European Union and bilaterally. In November Ministers will attend the third World Congress in Rio de Janeiro to speak about what the UK is doing to combat the trafficking of children.

Human Trafficking

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for trafficking for labour exploitation have been made under the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004.

Alan Campbell: To date there have been four convictions of people for trafficking for the purposes of forced labour.

Human Trafficking: Extradition

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people have been extradited to work in order to be prosecuted in the UK for offences relating to the trafficking of human beings in the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many UK citizens were extradited in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 1997 to be prosecuted abroad for offences relating to the trafficking of human beings.

Meg Hillier: Extradition casework in England and Wales is carried out by the Home Office's Judicial Cooperation Unit (JCU) and by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). The Home Office administers extradition between England and Wales and non-EU states. Extradition between England and Wales and EU states (and Gibraltar) is effected by the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and is administered by SOCA. The EAW has been in operation in the UK since 1 January 2004.
	SOCA's EAW records show that four individuals have been extradited to the UK for human trafficking offences and one for the facilitation of illegal immigration. In 2007, one UK citizen was extradited from the UK for human trafficking offences and one for human smuggling and forgery offences; and there were two further extraditions in that year from the UK for human trafficking offences where the nationality of the extraditees is not known.
	The Home Office has statistics for its extraditions only since 1998. These show that there have been no non-EAW extraditions to or from England and Wales for the offence of human trafficking or people smuggling in that period.

Human Trafficking: Lancashire

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were  (a) arrested,  (b) prosecuted and  (c) convicted for crimes relating to human trafficking in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 27 October 2008
	There have been 16 prosecutions in Lancashire for human trafficking related offences of which eight have resulted in convictions.
	Data on the number of arrests is currently being finalised and is not yet available.

Illegal Immigrants

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each country of origin were prosecuted for using false documentation to enter the UK in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: Aggregate details regarding the countries of origin of those prosecuted for using false documentation to enter the UK are not recorded. The following figures, however, relate to prosecutions carried out by Border Force prosecution teams at ports of entry, where false documentation has been presented:
	
		
			  Period  1 April to 31 March each year  Total persons prosecuted in relation to false documentation. 
			 2003-04 245 
			 2004-05 218 
			 2005-06 530 
			 2006-07 611 
			 2007-08 465 
		
	
	The data provided is based on locally-collated management information, which may be subject to change and does not represent published national statistics.

Interception Modernisation Programme

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the cost of the interception modernisation programme.

Jacqui Smith: The objective of the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) is to maintain the UK's lawful intercept and communications data capabilities in the changing communications environment. It is a cross-government programme, led by the Home Office, to ensure that our capability to lawfully intercept and exploit data when fighting crime and terrorism is not lost. It was established in response to the Prime Minister's National Security remit in 2006.
	Given the commercial and national security sensitivities, the precise costs of the programme cannot be disclosed. Further detail on budgetary estimates for the IMP will however become available once the public consultation process, which I announced on 15 October, commences in the new year.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will answer the letter of 15 July 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr N. Ali.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 12 September 2008
	I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 22 September 2008.

Offensive Weapons: Schizophrenia

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people suffering from paranoid schizophrenia have been convicted of knife crimes in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on court proceedings does not contain information about the circumstances behind each case, beyond the description provided in the statute under which prosecutions are brought. For example, it is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of knife crimes who were suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. As a result the information requested on court proceedings is not available.

Passports: Lost Property

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports were lost by the Identity and Passport Service in transit to the passport holder in each year since 1997.

Meg Hillier: Losses of passports while in the delivery process to customers since 2001 are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2001 2,541 
			 2002 2,982 
			 2003 3,593 
			 2004 601 
			 2005 1,018 
			 2006 727 
			 2007 716 
		
	
	There are no figures available prior to 2001.
	Prior to February 2004, Royal Mail first-class post was used for the delivery of passports. Since then, the Identity and Passport Service have used a secure courier service provided by Secure Mail Services for the dispatch of new passports and valid British passports submitted in support of passport applications. The introduction of Secure Delivery has seen losses reduce by over 80 per cent. Couriers are now equipped with hand-held GPS devices to improve on accuracy of delivery and losses are expected to reduce further.
	All lost passports are entered on to our database of lost and stolen passports which is available to the UK Border Agency and Interpol.

Passports: Postal Services

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of Royal Mail's delivery options is used by her Department for the return of passports and visas to applicants; whether the option requires a signature on delivery; and how much compensation the option provides for lost items.

Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) do not use the Royal Mail for the delivery of British passports. New passports are returned to customers via a secure courier service, provided by Secure Mail Services. Mandatory customer signatures are required for around four per cent., of deliveries in areas of high risk. In all other cases, couriers are asked to obtain a signature where a customer is available. Currently this happens for around 45 per cent., of deliveries in non high risk areas.
	Customer's supporting documents are returned by Royal Mail second class post unless a valid British passport is to be returned, when Secure Delivery is used. IPS strongly recommends that customers choose Secure Delivery for the return of their documents at a cost of £3.00, and advises customers that IPS will not be liable for the loss of any documents despatched by second class post.
	IPS will compensate customers to the cost of obtaining replacement documents where a loss is suffered through the use of Secure Delivery.
	The UK Border Agency does not send visas to addresses in the UK and do not keep records of any documents that have been lost in the post overseas. Such information could be obtained only by examining individual visa applications and therefore at disproportionate cost.

Public Order Offences: Religion

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought against persons or organisations engaging in religious proselytising on the grounds of threats to public order in each year since 1997.

Alan Campbell: The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 amended the Public Order Act 1986 to introduce the offence of incitement to religious hatred, to go alongside the existing incitement to racial hatred offence. It was implemented in October 2007 and there have been no prosecutions.

TREASURY

Bank Services

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether his Department has taken steps to protect commercial depositors in Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Limited;
	(2)  what steps the Government has taken following the collapse of Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Limited.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 16 October 2008
	 : I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the Chancellor of 8 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 279-80, and to the three press statements (101/08,102/08 and 103/08) published by the Treasury on 7 and 8 October. These are available on the Treasury website.

Bank Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to protect the money deposited by Naomi House with Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 17 October 2008
	 The Government have put in place arrangements to ensure that all FSCS-eligible depositors in the Icelandic banks of Landsbanki, Heritable and Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander will receive their money in full. If a charity is eligible to claim compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, it will be entitled to benefit from these arrangements.

Bank Services

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what protection the Government is giving to depositors with savings in multiple deposit-taking institutions under a single Financial Services Authority registration.

Ian Pearson: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is responsible for making the rules of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and is considering whether the compensation scheme should continue to offer compensation on a per authorised entity basis or should move to a per brand or per account basis. If appropriate, the FSA will consult on specific proposals in due course.

Banks: Finance

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the standards of auditing of banks following the recent banking difficulties;
	(2)  what discussions the Chancellor has had with the accountancy profession about audit standards and quality in respect of the auditing of banks in the last three years; and what discussions he intends to have in the next 12 months.

Ian Pearson: The Department is responsible for the legal and policy framework for the regulation of auditing. The body responsible for regulation of auditing and the audit profession is the Financial Reporting Council. Through its subsidiary bodies, it sets UK audit standards, provides guidance on their application, reviews compliance and undertakes oversight and independent discipline of the auditing profession. As part of its responsibilities, the FRC independently monitors the quality of auditing for major public interest entities and, during the recent financial market turmoil, has been paying particular attention to the audits of financial institutions to ensure that the relevant standards are properly applied. The FRC reports publicly on its audit monitoring.

Banks: Finance

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what regulations he has introduced to govern bank liquidity over the last five years.

Ian Pearson: This is a matter for the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which set a unified framework of systems and controls under which banks manage liquidity risks in 2004. The FSA is proposing to consult on a new liquidity risk management framework and new reporting requirements before the end of this year.

Banks: Pay

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will direct the Financial Services Authority to issue formal guidance or a code of conduct for the banking sector in respect of remuneration policy.

Ian Pearson: On 13 October the Chief Executive of the Financial Services Authority wrote to the Chief Executives of the major banks and building societies, setting out the criteria for remuneration policies and practices which are properly aligned to sound risk management and controls.

Credit Unions

John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government is guaranteeing accounts held in credit unions; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has made it clear that he will do whatever it takes to protect depositors and to maintain financial stability.

Departmental Public Expenditure

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on  (a) new furnishings,  (b) art and  (c) new vehicles by his Department in each of the last three years.

Angela Eagle: The Treasury did not purchase any motor vehicles between 2005-06 and 2007-08. Details of the Department's spending on furniture and equipment and antiques is shown in the note 11.1 in the relevant resource account for each year. Copies of the Treasury's resource accounts are available on the Treasury's website
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/resource_accounting_and_budgeting_about_us.htm.
	HC 1344 covers 2005-06, HC 518 2006-07 and HC 539 2007-08.

Departmental Public Participation

Theresa May: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many citizens' juries his Department has held since 1 July 2007; what the cost was of each; what issues were discussed at each event; and how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) members of the public attended each event.

Angela Eagle: I understand that the Treasury has not held any citizens' juries during the period concerned.

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what personal training courses at public expense he has undertaken since his appointment.

Ian Pearson: None.

Dorneywood

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 19 June 2008,  Official Report, column 1187W, on Dorneywood: official hospitality, what use his Department has made of Dorneywood for official engagements in the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) on 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 91W.

Financial Services: Regulation

Ann Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether financial services regulation is an exclusive competence of the European Union.

Ian Pearson: The regulation of financial services is an exclusive EU competence where the EU has adopted directives and regulations in the field and where there is general EU law that applies to financial firms, for example, the state aid rules. Member states can only legislate in the field covered by a directive (unless explicitly allowed to do so by the directive) in order to implement EU law, to provide further necessary detail or to ensure its proper enforcement, for example by adding sanctions for non-compliance.
	Where permissible under a directive, a member state may go further than EU law. but only if it does not contradict EU law.
	Some issues concerning regulation of financial services are not covered by EU competence, for example regulation of mortgage lending.

Government Securities

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of  (a) index linked and  (b) conventional gilts auctioned by the Debt Management Office in each of the last 12 months.

Ian Pearson: The information requested is available in the monthly issuance report, which can be accessed on the DMO website at:
	http://www.dmo.gov.uk/index.aspx?page=Gilts/Net_Issuance_Data

Personal Income

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people earned over  (a) £100,000 and  (b) £250,000 respectively a year on the latest date for which figures are available; what percentage of the workforce each represents; and what estimate he has made of the additional revenue which would accrue to the Exchequer if (i) those earning £100,000 or more were taxed at (A) 50 per cent. and (B) 60 per cent. and (ii) if those earning £250,000 or more were taxed at (C) 60 per cent. and (D) 70 per cent.

Stephen Timms: The estimated numbers of UK taxpayers in 2008-09 with incomes in excess of the thresholds requested, and the proportion of taxpayers these represent, are in the table.
	
		
			   Threshold 
			   £100,000  £250,000 
			 Number of taxpayers with income above the threshold 650,000 120,000 
			 Percentage of taxpayers 2.1 0.4 
		
	
	Table 2a of the Generic Tax Table 2008-09: "Additional full-year yield from the introduction of additional higher rates of tax on GROSS incomes (Earnings and Savings) over a specific amount" contains comprehensive information on income tax and is available in the Library of the House. This table shows the yield from an additional higher rate band of tax at various thresholds, but the yield from a combination of two higher rate bands can also be derived. It excludes any estimates of behavioural response which could be significant and might eliminate a large proportion of the yield from any new higher rate bands.

Personal Income

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) persons and  (b) households with assets, excluding dwellings, over (i) £1 million, (ii) £5 million, (iii) £10 million and (iv) £20 million; and if he will estimate the revenue which would accrue to the Exchequer of an annual levy of (A) 1 per cent. of the wealth of those with assets over £1 million, (B) 1.5 per cent. of the wealth of those with assets over £5 million, (C) 2 per cent. of the wealth of those with assets over £10 million and (D) 3 per cent. of the wealth of those with assets over £20 million.

Ian Pearson: Estimates of the numbers of persons and households with wealth above certain levels, where wealth excludes the value of dwellings, are not available.
	Estimates of the revenue from an annual levy on wealth excluding the value of dwellings are also not available.

Plain English

David Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Ian Pearson: HM Treasury has not submitted any publications for approval for Crystal Mark status in any of the following financial years 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08.

Public Works Loan Board

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value is of outstanding loans made by the Public Works Loan Board.

Ian Pearson: At 30 September 2008, outstanding PWLB debt amounted to £51,656,134,289.49.

Public Works Loan Board

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what value of new loans was made by the Public Works Loan Board in each of the last 12 months.

Ian Pearson: The PWLB made loans totalling £6,118,253,531 to local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales in the 12 months to end-September 2008. According to figures provided by the PWLB, the total loaned in each of the last 12 months is listed as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 31 October 2007 662,180,704 
			 30 November 2007 710,885,173 
			 31 December 2007 531,235,000 
			 31 January 2008 785,009,109 
			 29 February 2008 171,433,500 
			 31 March 2008 1,099,202,504 
			 30 April 2008 532,656,500 
			 31 May 2008 535,933,981 
			 30 June 2008 55,743,765 
			 31 July 2008 221,360,345 
			 31 August 2008 571,557,000 
			 30 September 2008 241,055,950

Repossession Orders

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of house repossessions which have taken place in  (a) Southend West constituency and  (b) the United Kingdom as a result of the current financial situation; what steps he (i) has taken and (ii) plans to take to assist people facing repossession of their property; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government do not hold these figures. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) publishes the total numbers of properties taken into possession, available at:
	http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/statistics
	In 2004 the Government extended the scope of Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulation to cover mortgages, helping ensure suitable protection for borrowers, including those experiencing arrears or repossession.
	On 22 October, the Government confirmed that the Master of the Rolls had approved a new protocol for mortgage possession cases, which complements existing regulation, and sets out clear standards that judges may expect of lenders bringing repossession cases in the courts.
	On 2 September, the Government announced a significant package of measures to help borrowers in difficulty, help first time buyers and support the house building industry. Further details of these measures are available on the HM Treasury website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2008/press_88_08.cfm
	the Department for Communities and Local Government website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/950558
	and the Department for Work and Pensions website:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/news/#smi
	The Government also provides assistance for homeowners facing financial difficulties through the provision of debt advice. It announced in May 2008 a £10 million package of measures to ensure that financial advice and support is available for borrowers who may need it. Details of the announcement are available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2008/press_44_08.cfm

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff of each  (a) sex and  (b) grade were employed at HM Revenue and Customs offices (i) Tyler's House, (ii) Dencora Court, (iii) Alexander House, (iv) Portcullis House, (v) Shoeburyness Computer Complex, (vi) Kelting House in Southend-on-Sea, (vii) Kelting House, Basildon and (viii) Regent House, Basildon on (A) 31 March 2006 and (B) 31 March 2008.

Stephen Timms: The information is as follows.
	(i) Tyler's House and (ii) Denora Court are the same building. There is no Kelting House in Southend on Sea, only the one in Basildon. Subject to those provisos, the number of staff of each sex and grade in these buildings on (A) 31 March 2006 and (B) 31 March 2008 are as follows:
	 (i) and (ii) Tyler's House
	 (a) Gender
	(A) 31 March 2006—167 female, 89 male
	(B) 31 March 2008—143 female, 77 male
	 (b) Grade
	
		
			  (A) 31 March 2006 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Grade 6 5 
			 Grade 7 6 
			 Band T/Fast Stream 5 
			 Senior Officer 7 
			 Higher Officer 27 
			 Officer 73 
			 Assistant Officer 75 
			 Admin. Assistant 58 
			 Total 256 
		
	
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Grade 6 3 
			 Grade 7 6 
			 Band T/Fast Stream 5 
			 Senior Officer 5 
			 Higher Officer 25 
			 Officer 61 
			 Assistant Officer 67 
			 Admin. Assistant 48 
			 Total 220 
		
	
	 (iii) Alexander House
	 (a) Gender
	(A) 31 March 2006—948 female, 657 male
	(B) 31 March 2008—849 female, 615 male
	 (b) Grade
	
		
			  (A) 31 March 2006 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 3 
			 Grade 6 5 
			 Grade 7 19 
			 Band T/Fast Stream 1 
			 Senior Officer 200 
			 Higher Officer 327 
			 Officer 340 
			 Assistant Officer 398 
			 Admin. Assistant 312 
			 Total 1,605 
		
	
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 2 
			 Grade 6 9 
			 Grade 7 22 
			 Band T/Fast Stream 1 
			 Senior Officer 202 
			 Higher Officer 300 
			 Officer 340 
			 Assistant Officer 333 
			 Admin. Assistant 255 
			 Total 1,464 
		
	
	 (iii) Portcullis House, Southend
	 (a) Gender
	(A) 31 March 2006—158 female, 132 male
	(B) 31 March 2008—148 female, 114 male
	 (b) Grade
	
		
			  (A) 31 March 2006 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Grade 6 3 
			 Grade 7 11 
			 Senior Officer 62 
			 Higher Officer 110 
			 Officer 55 
			 Assistant Officer 48 
			 Admin. Assistant 1 
			 Total 290 
		
	
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Grade 6 2 
			 Grade 7 11 
			 Senior Officer 48 
			 Higher Officer 99 
			 Officer 56 
			 Assistant Officer 42 
			 Admin. Assistant 4 
			 Total 262 
		
	
	 (v) Shoeburyness Computer Complex
	 (a) Gender
	(A) 31 March 2006—2 female, 4 male
	(B) 31 March 2008—1 female, 2 male
	 (b) Grade
	
		
			  (A) 31 March 2006 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 2 
			 Higher Officer 1 
			 Officer 2 
			 Admin. Assistant 1 
			 Total 6 
		
	
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 1 
			 Higher Officer 1 
			 Officer 1 
			 Total 3 
		
	
	 (vi) and (vii) Kelting House, Basildon
	 (a) Gender
	(A) 31 March 2006—29 female, 3 male
	(B) 31 March 2008—23 female, 2 male
	 ( b) Grade
	
		
			  (A) 31 March 2006 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 1 
			 Higher Officer 5 
			 Officer 6 
			 Assistant Officer 12 
			 Admin. Assistant 8 
			 Total 32 
		
	
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 1 
			 Higher Officer 4 
			 Officer 4 
			 Assistant Officer 10 
			 Admin. Assistant 6 
			 Total 25 
		
	
	 (viii) Regent House, Basildon
	 (a) Gender
	(A) 31 March 2006—10 female, 11 male
	(B) 31 March 2008—8 female, 10 male
	 (b) Grade
	
		
			  (A) 31 March 2006 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 1 
			 Grade 7 1 
			 Higher Officer 12 
			 Officer 4 
			 Assistant Officer 2 
			 Admin. Assistant 1 
			 Total 21 
		
	
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2008 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 1 
			 Grade 7 1 
			 Higher Officer 11 
			 Officer 3 
			 Assistant Officer 1 
			 Admin. Assistant 1 
			 Total 18

Rural Areas

James Paice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of which of his Department's public service agreements rural proofing of departmental policies is stipulated.

Ian Pearson: HM Treasury leads on one cross- Government Public Service Agreement (PSA) for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR2007) period:
	PSA9—Halve the number of children in poverty by 2010-11 on the way to eradicating child poverty.
	HM Treasury has signed up as a formal delivery partner for the following PSAs:
	PSA 1—Raise the productivity of the UK economy (led by BERR);
	PSA 6—Deliver the conditions for business success in the UK (led by BERR);
	PSA 7—Improve the economic performance of all English regions and reduce the gap in economic growth rates between regions (led by BERR);
	PSA 8—Maximise employment opportunity for all (led by DWP);
	PSA 27—Lead the global effort to avoid dangerous climate change (led by DEFRA); and
	PSA29—Reduce poverty in poorer countries through quicker progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (led by DFID).
	It is a requirement for all new policies and programmes to be subject to an impact assessment which includes rural proofing.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Coal: Prices

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average price of coal for domestic heating use in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 17 October 2008
	DECC does not hold data on coal prices paid by domestic consumers. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes the Retail Price Index (RPI) which has a coal price index. RPI data for the last five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Index number 1990=100 current prices  Percentage change on previous year 
			 2003 144.2 — 
			 2004 151.7 5.2 
			 2005 167.1 10.2 
			 2006 179.6 7.5 
			 2007 192.5 7.2

Coal: Prices

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will provide assistance to  (a) consumers and  (b) local distributors of coal for domestic use to manage recent cost increases.

Mike O'Brien: I have no plans to provide specific assistance to these groups. In terms of consumers, however, the Government already have a range of measures in place to help the most vulnerable with their energy costs, and we recently launched further initiatives. The new Home Energy Saving Programme announced on 11 September includes a £74 million increase to the budget for Warm Front over the next two years (the Government scheme in England, offering insulation, heating and energy efficiency measures to low income and pensioner households on eligible benefits); an increase in cold weather payments this winter from £8.50 to £25 a week; more help with energy efficiency measures and a one-off payment for this winter of £50 to over-60s and £100 to over-80s as part of Government's winter fuel payment.

Departmental Manpower

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many staff work in his Department's strategy team on a  (a) full-time equivalent and  (b) headcount basis; and what the annual average salary of such staff is.

Mike O'Brien: DECC does not have a central strategy team yet. As part of the process of setting up the Department, we will be looking at what strategy support for the Department is necessary and will take a decision on the size of the team on that basis.

Natural Gas: Storage

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what gas storage facilities he expects to be constructed to provide the extra 13.8 billion cubic metres of storage, referred to in the Government's response to the Eleventh Report of the Business and Enterprise Committee on Energy prices, fuel poverty and Ofgem, HC293-1; and what the  (a) size and  (b) location of each facility will be.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 17 October 2008
	 The figures to which the hon. Member refers were based on information in National Grid's "Gas Transportation Ten Year Statement 2007", Table 4.5D ("TYS"), available at the following website:
	http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonlyres/F085FC328C534999AF8880388A29AE2C/22103/TYS2007.pdf
	That document includes details of project sizes and locations. The small changes in the Government's reply to the BERR Committee's Q.12, by comparison with the TYS, reflect my Department's assessment of the impact of developments since the TYS was finalised last year.

River Severn: Tidal Power

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to be able to publish the findings of the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study.

Mike O'Brien: Subject to internal review, we plan to publish interim findings early in the new year and a final report in the first half of 2010, both for public consultation.

River Severn: Tidal Power

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to publish a short-list of options for a Severn tidal power scheme; how many options he expects to shortlist; and what factors he will take into account in drawing up that short-list.

Mike O'Brien: Subject to internal review we expect to publish for public consultation in the new year a recommended shortlist of options, together with the interim findings of the feasibility study and the proposed scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment of tidal power development in the Severn Estuary. An assessment framework has been prepared which will also be published. This sets assessment criteria of: feasibility, technical risk; cost and amount of energy produced; affordability and value for money; impact on the energy market and security of energy supply; and environmental and regional impact.

River Severn: Tidal Power

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what representations he has received from local businesses and employers in  (a) the South West and  (b) South Wales on the impact of a Severn Barrage on the local economy.

Mike O'Brien: As part of Government's study looking at the feasibility of a tidal power scheme in the Severn estuary DTZ in collaboration with MDS Transmodal and Arthur D. Little have been commissioned to undertake an initial assessment of the potential economic impact of a tidal power scheme on the Welsh and South West of England economies.
	Information has separately been sought from all those ports in the South West and Wales likely to be directly impacted by a tidal power scheme in the estuary. Replies have been received from; Bristol Port Co., Milford Haven Port Authority, Gloucester Harbour Trustees, Environment Agency (Lydney Harbour), Neath Harbour Commissioners, Associated British Ports, Sharpness Dock and British Waterways (Sharpness).
	In addition, as an early part of the strategic environmental assessment process, a Call for Information was issued in May 2008. This invited interested parties to submit comments or information that could contribute to the assessment. This yielded responses from the Ports Industry, Shooting and Angling bodies, and Marine Aggregates Producers.
	Business representatives also participate in our various feasibility study stakeholder groups. The feasibility study regional forum meetings are for representatives from local government and representatives of the local environmental and business community. Membership includes representatives from the South West Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and Confederation of British Industry in the South West and Wales.The Bristol Port Company, the Association of British Ports, West of England Strategic Economic Partnership, the Crown Estate, the Institute of Directors and GWE Business West are also members. The Steering Group for the Strategic Environmental Assessment—a major part of the feasibility study—includes a business representative and also representatives of the ports. Regional business issues are also raised through MPs attending the feasibility study parliamentary forum.

River Severn: Tidal Power

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who the members are of  (a) the Project Board overseeing the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study and  (b) the Ministerial Group to which the Project Board reports.

Mike O'Brien: The Project Board is made up of senior officials from: DECC; BERR; Cabinet Office; CLG; DEFRA; DFT; HMT; Wales Office; Welsh Assembly Government; the South West Regional Development Agency; and the Government Office for the South West. In addition, there are non-executive members from the University of Cambridge Centre for Sustainable Development; the Sustainable Development Commission; and Partnerships UK.
	The Ministerial Group to which the Project Board reports consists of Secretary of States from: DECC, BERR, CLG, DEFRA, DFT, and Wales Office, together with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Minister for the South West, the Welsh First Minister, and the Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing.

River Severn: Tidal Power

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the remit is of the Technical and Engineering Expert Panel appointed to provide advice to the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study team; how its members were selected; and when the panel's advice and reports will be published.

Mike O'Brien: The Expert Panel has been appointed to peer review the technical outputs of the Feasibility Study and to provide it with independent engineering advice. The members were selected following consultation with the Royal Academy of Engineering and other professional engineering bodies. The panel's advice will be taken into account in the final versions of the technical reports, the first of which will inform the shortlist of schemes on which we aim to consult early in 2009.

Solar Power

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential for development of solar photovoltaic energy in the UK.

Mike O'Brien: The Department of Energy and Climate Change, formerly BERR, as part of a consortium, commissioned research on the growth potential for microgeneration in England, Scotland and Wales, including the potential contribution it could make towards the 2020 renewable energy targets. It found that high policy support would deliver a total of 6.7 TWh renewable electricity at a cumulative subsidy cost of £5.7 billion, of which annual generation for PV in 2020 could be 1.17 TWh.
	A further study of PV and wind turbines in the existing non-domestic building stock suggested that a high policy support scenario could result in annual generation of 12.5 TWh for solar PV at a cumulative subsidy cost of £17.9 billion by 2020.
	The report can be viewed at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/sustainable/microgeneration/index.html
	The Renewable Energy Strategy Consultation closed for responses on 26 September. In formulating our final strategy, we will be considering the contribution needed to meet our targets from different technologies.

Water Power

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans the Government has to promote the commercial development of wave and tidal stream technology.

Mike O'Brien: The Government are helping to meet the challenge of developing and commercialising wave and tidal stream technology and have put in place the most comprehensive package of support measure for marine energy anywhere in the world. Since 2000 over £100 million has been committed.
	The package of support measures we have put in place, includes the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's (EPSRC) Supergen Marine programme, Carbon Trust funding, research funding from the Technology Strategy Board and the Energy Technologies Institute.
	DECC's £50 million Marine Renewables Deployment Fund provides a package of measures central to which is a £42 million 'Wave and Tidal Stream Energy Demonstration Scheme'. We also support the European Marine Energy Centre wave and tidal stream test site in Orkney and have offered £4.5million support to the proposed £28 million Wave Hub, a project that will provide the infrastructure for demonstration of commercial wave farms, off the Cornish coast.
	The aforementioned demonstrates the Government's continued commitment to supporting the development of this sector from R and D towards the eventual commercialisation of wave and tidal stream technology.
	In addition, through the Energy Bill the Government are banding the renewables obligation to provide additional support to foster the development of these emerging technologies; this would double the incentive available to the marine sector.
	The Government are also considering the responses to the recent UK Renewable Energy Strategy consultation, to see whether further measures need to be adopted to promote the commercial development of wave and tidal stream technology.

Wind Power: Planning

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average length of time between the submission of a planning application for an onshore wind farm and the grant of consent was in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what plans his Department has to reduce this figure in respect of future applications.

Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
	This summer's consultation on the Government's Renewable Energy Strategy (RES) notes that the time taken by local authorities in England to reach decisions on wind farms in 2007 was around 14 months on average. In 2007 there was one decision in England made under S36 of the Electricity Act 1989 and this took 36 months. The RES sets out the wide-ranging reforms of the planning system being taken forward by Government to enable more efficient and timely decision-making. The RES also set out and invited views on a range of potential additional measures to support onshore renewable development.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) equipment and  (b) data was lost by his Department in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My Department has lost the following equipment in the last 12 months:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Blackberry 4 
			 Mobile phone 3 
			 Floppy disk drive unit 1 
			 Memory stick 2 
		
	
	The data held on the mobile phones and memory stick is the only data that has been lost. The e-mails held on Blackberrys are deleted remotely as soon as they are reported missing. The memory sticks held a small number of files and there are no reports that this included sensitive or personal data.

Departmental Postal Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department has taken to monitor the cost of its mail services in the last 12 months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department has monthly meetings with its mail room service provider to review mail room costs and identify opportunities for efficiency savings.

Departmental Press

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on  (a) transcripts and recordings,  (b) fees to the Newspaper Licensing Authority and  (c) analysis of press coverage in each of the last three years.

Barbara Follett: The information is as follows:
	 Recordings
	The Department pays an annual subscription charge to the Media Monitoring Unit (this is part of the Central Office of Information, previously part of the Cabinet Office) which includes recordings.
	Subscription charges paid by the Department to the Media Monitoring Unit in each of the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			   Subscription charges to the Media Monitoring Unit (Cost per annum including VAT) (£) 
			 2005-06 34,662.50 
			 2006-07 35,426.25 
			 2007-08 40,537.50 
		
	
	 Transcripts
	Transcript charges paid by the Department in each of the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			   Transcript charges (Cost per annum including VAT) (£) 
			 2005-06 4,436.81 
			 2006-07 5,796.40 
			 2007-08 5,077.88 
		
	
	 National Licensing Authority
	Fees to the National Licensing Authority are twofold; a direct annual charge and an indirect monthly payment via our press cuttings providers, EDS Media.
	Charges paid by the Department to the National Licensing Authority over the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			  Cost per annum excluding VAT (£) 
			   Subscription charge to the National Licensing Authority  Charges paid indirectly to the National Licensing Authority via EDS Media 
			 2005-06 24,330.18 12,514.13 
			 2006-07 49,765.18 13,765.96 
			 2007-08 41,733.35 16,378.47 
		
	
	 Analysis
	The Department commissioned analysis of press coverage in 2005-06 at a cost of £10,056.69 excluding VAT. No such analysis was conducted in 2006-07 or 2007-08.
	Information for 2008-09 has not been included as the current year's expenditure has not yet been audited.

Departmental Public Participation

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) listening exercises and  (b) public forums his Department has held in each of the last two years; what the (i) purpose and (ii) cost was in each case; and who the private contractor was and how much it was paid in each case.

Barbara Follett: The Department regularly engages in dialogue with a range of relevant stakeholders, who may include members of the public, representatives from our non-departmental public bodies and other interested parties or individuals within our sectors.
	The Department has held no formal, planned activity in the last two years specifically defined as a "listening exercise". The Department held a series of public engagement events which could be defined as "public forums" to discuss the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, details for which are as follows:
	 Public forums
	"London 2012: Ask the team" question time events
	(i) Purpose:
	A series of public engagement events held round the UK in partnership with London 2012 to give stakeholders and members of the public the opportunity to ask questions about the Games and how they can get involved.
	(ii) Costs (excl VAT):
	Birmingham, 25 June 2007: £36,478
	London, 11 October 2007: £26,962
	Plymouth, 13 March 2008: £18,799
	Belfast, 25 June 2008: 17,750
	(iii) Contractor:
	Central Office of Information (COI)
	(iv) Amount paid to contractor:
	The aforementioned amounts listed were paid to COI

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) the agency sponsored by his Department in each year since 2001.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department holds records from 2006. These are not split between lost and stolen. The Royal Parks Agency holds records from 2004.
	The number of staff security passes that have been reported as lost or stolen are as follows:
	
		
			   DCMS  Royal Parks Agency 
			   Lost/stolen  Lost  Stolen 
			 2004 n/a 6 0 
			 2005 n/a 6 1 
			 2006 31 7 0 
			 2007 9 8 0 
			 2008 3 6 3

Departmental Temporary Employment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which companies were used by his Department for providing temporary staff in each of the last five years; and what the value of contracts with each such company was in each of those years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The companies and amount spent on temporary staff are listed as follows. Information prior to 2004 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Supplier  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05 
			 Adecco 217,233.72 453,499.54 488,050.84 54,522.63 
			 Poolia Specialist Recruitment 106,107.84 47,714.39 26,453.76 0.00 
			 Josephine Sammons 50,420.96 99,876.23 127,485.25 311,920.40 
			 Venn Croup 0.00 44,907.83 6,474.40 15,114.26 
			 Morgan Law 50,290.00 36,895.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Marks Sattin 7,226.25 26,709.54 0.00 19,730.47 
			 Reed Personnel Services 0.00 38,826.75 0.00 18,499.44 
			 TFPL Ltd. 6,319.60 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Robert Walters Operations Ltd. 0.00 32,890.27 36,348.36 36,740.10 
			 Goodman Masson Recruitment Services 0.00 0.00 1,837.71 23,167.21 
			 Hayes 13,824.64 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Brook Street 52,405.67 0.00 0.00 0.00

Departmental Temporary Employment

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which recruitment agencies  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have used in the last three years; and how much was paid to each of these recruitment agencies in each year.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department and its agency have used the following temporary and permanent recruitment agencies in the past three years.
	
		
			  £ 
			  DCMS supplier  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06 
			 Adecco 217,233.72 453,499.54 488,050.84 
			 Poolia Specialist Recruitment 106,107.84 47,714.39 26,453.76 
			 Josephine Sammons 50,420.96 99,876.23 127,485.25 
			 Morgan Law 50,290.00 36,895.00 0.00 
			 Goodman Masson Recruitment Services 0.00 0.00 1,837.71 
			 Hayes 13,824.64 0.00 0.00 
			 Brook Street 52,405.67 0.00 0.00 
			 Taylor Bennett 28,752.25 0.00 0.00 
			 Odgers Ray and Berndtson 133,031.16 264,808.98 33,709.24 
			 Capita Resourcing Ltd. 44,769.38 7,050.00 0.00 
			 Whitehead Mann Ltd. 0.00 164,368.02 0.00 
		
	
	
		
			  £ 
			  Royal Parks (agency) supplier  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06 
			 Hays Accountancy 262,821.21 189,412.66 158,385.79 
			 Judd Farris Ltd. 1,550.65 92,883.95 0.00 
			 Michael Page 43,488.41 0.00 0.00 
			 Morgan Hunt 9,851.81 0.00 0.00 
			 Reed Employment 39,095.96 37,288.85 0.00 
			 Select Financial Ltd. 9,693.75 0.00 0.00 
			 The Sports Web 25,841.45 27,468.32 12,570.49 
			 Stopgap Ltd. 4,882.92 15,089.00 28,291.89 
			 Sue Hill 20,875.15 38,548.57 0.00 
			  Note: Many of the recruitments relate to non-departmental public bodies chairs and chief executives. They do not all relate to DCMS staff.

Horserace Totalisator Board

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consideration would be given to a reasonable offer from a third party to purchase the Tote.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 28 October 2008
	 The Government appreciate that a number of potential purchasers may be disappointed that the opportunity to buy the Tote is not available for the time being, but given the need for an open, transparent and accountable sale process, they will not be following up any offers they receive now that a decision has been taken to retain the Tote in public ownership.

National Lottery

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what total balance was held by each of the lottery distributors on the latest date for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: The information is as follows.
	
		
			  Lottery distributing body  Balance at 30 September 2008 (rounded to nearest £000) 
			 Arts Council England 141,576,000 
			 UK Film Council 42,989,000 
			 Arts Council Northern Ireland 17,517,000 
			 Scottish Arts Council 26,899,000 
			 Arts Council Wales 10,668,000 
			 Scottish Screen 4,458,000 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund 487,336,000 
			 Sport England 204,839,000 
			 Sport Northern Ireland 19,845,000 
			 Sport Scotland 51,050,000 
			 UK Sport 13,922,000 
			 Sports Council Wales 10,765,000 
			 Big Lottery Fund 560,420,000 
			 Olympic Lottery Distributor 16,956,000

National Lottery

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was received by each of the National Lottery good causes in each year since 1995-96, expressed in 2008-09 prices.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 27 October 2008
	The following tables use 2007-08 prices, which are the latest available. All figures include investment income.
	
		
			  Sport good cause 
			  £000 
			   Lottery income cash  At 2007 - 08 prices 
			 1994-95 58,688 81,634 
			 1995-96 306,580 414,449 
			 1996-97 316,730 412,903 
			 1997-98 363,280 461,478 
			 1998-99 302,742 376,563 
			 1999-2000 276,000 336,684 
			 2000-01 294,821 354,988 
			 2001-02 301,776 355,436 
			 2002-03 258,090 294,489 
			 2003-04 227,294 252,162 
			 2004-05 239,616 258,795 
			 2005-06 244,000 258,242 
			 2006-07 213,132 219,656 
			 2007-08(1) 217,040 217,040 
		
	
	
		
			  Arts good cause 
			  £000 
			   Lottery income cash  At 2007-08 prices 
			 1994-95 58,693 81,641 
			 1995-96 306,475 414,306 
			 1996-97 314,924 410,549 
			 1997-98 353,541 449,106 
			 1998-99 281,714 350,408 
			 1999-2000 264,733 322,940 
			 2000-01 277,321 333,917 
			 2001-02 295,442 347,976 
			 2002-03 255,701 291,763 
			 2003-04 229,020 254,077 
			 2004-05 241,062 260,357 
			 2005-06 245,059 259,363 
			 2006-07 212,604 219,112 
			 2007-08(1) 217,040 217,040 
		
	
	
		
			  Heritage good cause 
			  £000 
			   Lottery income cash  At 2007-08 prices 
			 1994-95 58,691 81,637 
			 1995-96 305,869 413,487 
			 1996-97 316,623 412,764 
			 1997-98 365,747 464,612 
			 1998-99 310,209 385,851 
			 1999-2000 291,820 355,982 
			 2000-01 316,085 380,591 
			 2001-02 320,324 377,282 
			 2002-03 290,925 331,955 
			 2003-04 246,318 273,268 
			 2004-05 266,275 287,588 
			 2005-06 270,119 285,886 
			 2006-07 231,040 238,113 
			 2007-08(1) 217,043 217,043 
		
	
	
		
			  Millennium good cause 
			  £000 
			   Lottery income cash  At 2007-08 prices 
			 1994-95 58,693 81,641 
			 1995-96 307,294 415,413 
			 1996-97 321,055 418,542 
			 1997-98 398,213 505,854 
			 1998-99 392,037 487,632 
			 1999-2000 353,386 431,085 
			 2000-01 342,197 412,032 
			 2001-02 139,705 164,547 
			 2002-03 21,381 24,396 
			 2003-04 6,436 7,140 
			 2004-05 6,081 6,568 
			 2005-06 3,392 3,590 
			 2006-07 1,602 1,651 
			 2007-08 — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Health, education, charities and environment good cause 
			  £000 
			   Lottery income cash  At 2007-08 prices 
			 1994-95 58,703 81,654 
			 1995-96 307,078 415,122 
			 1996-97 316,691 412,853 
			 1997-98 469,177 596,000 
			 1998-99 629,719 783,272 
			 1999-2000 549,594 670,433 
			 2000-01 532,112 640,705 
			 2001-02 760,617 895,866 
			 2002-03 763,021 870,631 
			 2003-04 681,321 755,864 
			 2004-05 717,377 774,797 
			 2005-06 728,425 770,942 
			 2006-07 628,905 648,155 
			 2007-08(1) 651,124 651,124 
		
	
	
		
			  Olympic good cause 
			  £000 
			   Lottery income cash  At 2007-08 prices 
			 2004-05 — — 
			 2005-06 16,486 17,829 
			 2006-07 114,952 118,471 
			 2007-08 150,671 150,671 
			 (1) Sourced from draft NLDF 2007-08 Accounts.

Olympic Games 2012: Cultural Heritage

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role heritage will play in his Department's plans for an Olympic legacy; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: Heritage plays a significant role in plans for the Olympic and Paralympic games and the Olympic legacy. As the Government's adviser on the historic environment, English Heritage has had a direct involvement in the Olympics construction programme through its statutory responsibilities in planning and archaeology. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), the Government's statutory adviser on architecture and the built environment, is also a key player in the promotion of well designed, sustainable facilities that make best use of existing built assets where appropriate.
	As part of the build process for the Olympic Park, the waterways adjacent to and through it are being repaired and renovated. River wells are being repaired and soft river edges, reseeded with indigenous plants, are being re-established.
	All archaeological finds have been recorded and the artefacts are being held by the Museum of London for public viewing. The Olympic Programme is also financing two architectural reports on the history of the Olympic Park which will cover a thousand years of its history, as well as giving a more recent picture of how it has changed in modern times.
	The Cultural Olympiad provides an opportunity for all sorts of cultural organisations to engage in Olympic legacy. The heritage sector has already chosen to become involved, and many organisations took part in the Olympic Handover Celebrations in August and the Open Weekend in September which celebrated the launch of the Cultural Olympiad. Organisations from the heritage sector are also involved in the development of the major Cultural Olympiad project, Discovering Places. This programme introduces a new generation to the hidden places and spaces of the UK.
	There are also opportunities for interested heritage organisations to get involved in the UK wide festival, part of the Cultural Olympiad.

Plain English

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Barbara Follett: No documents have been submitted for approval for Crystal Mark status.

Plain English

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Gerry Sutcliffe: No documents have been submitted for approval for Crystal Mark status.

Remembrance Day

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was raised from the sale of poppies in his Department for Remembrance Sunday in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department has sold poppies for Remembrance Sunday in its offices in each of the last five years. The Department does not have a record of how much was raised from the sale of poppies.

Tourism

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what tourism growth target his Department has set for the period 2008 to 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: The current published ambition of achieving £100 billion turnover by 2010 was agreed with the industry, the regional development agencies and the Local Government Association in 2004.
	The publication of VisitBritain's strategic review in late 2008/early 2009 will provide an opportunity to examine the need for a new UK growth target.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Banks: Competition

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his most recent assessment is of levels of competition within the banking sector.

Gareth Thomas: The UK's independent competition authorities (the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission) are responsible for promoting effective competition in markets, tackling anti-competitive behaviour and examining markets that may not be working well for consumers. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) also has statutory responsibilities within the banking sector which are about maintaining confidence in the financial system, promoting public awareness and understanding of the financial system, securing greater consumer protection and reducing financial crime.
	Full details of all investigations conducted by the competition authorities can be found on their respective websites. Within the banking and financial sector, the most recent investigations conducted by the authorities are as follows:
	The Office of Fair Trading investigation into the market for personal current accounts in the UK. Findings were published on 16 July 2008 and can be found at
	http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2008/84-08:
	The Competition Commission investigation into banking services provided by clearing banks to small and medium sized enterprises. Final decisions and areas for further work for the Office of Fair Trading were published on 21 December 2007 and can be found at
	http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/press_rel/2007/dec/pdf/68-07.pdf:
	The Competition Commission investigation into store credit card services. Final decisions were published on 7 March 2006 and can be found at
	http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/2006/509storecards.htm:
	The Competition Commission investigation into Northern Irish Personal Banking. Final decisions were published on 15 May 2007 and can be found at
	http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/2007/527banking.htm.

Departmental Reorganisation

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what change there has been to his Department's budget to reflect the movement of responsibilities to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Patrick McFadden: The Machinery of Government changes of 3 October 2008 announced the creation of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, formed from the Energy Group located in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Climate Change Group located in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will transfer their budgets for Energy and Climate Change respectively to the new Department, based on the settlements agreed in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007, for the financial years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The annual budgets are currently being determined with HM Treasury engaged in the process. The agreed budget figures will be published in the Spring Supplementary Estimates in February 2009.

Departmental Secretarial Staff

Greg Hands: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether his Department provides a separate diary secretary to  (a) each Minister of State and  (b) each Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.

Patrick McFadden: Every Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is provided with their own diary secretary except that in the case of Ministers shared with another Department agreement is reached about which Department should provide the diary secretary as it would lead to confusion if there were two.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what official visits abroad he plans to make in 2009.

Patrick McFadden: Overseas travel plans for 2009 are not finalised at this time.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day his Department has answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament to date.

Gareth Thomas: As at 20 October 2008, the Department had answered 591 named day questions, of which 144 were answered on the due date. Of those answers receiving a "holding" reply, just under 40 per cent. received a substantive reply within two sitting days of the specified date. The Department is considering ways to improve its performance on answering named day questions.

Exports: Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many consignments of goods were exported from the UK in each of the last three years to  (a) Israel and  (b) the occupied Palestinian territories.

Gareth Thomas: Numbers of consignments are not available. Other information includes
	 (a) The value of goods exported to Israel amounted to £1.4 billion in 2005, £1.3 billion in 2006 and £1.2 billion in 2007. For exports where weight was recorded, the annual amounts were 381, 448 and 222 thousand tonnes respectively.
	 (b) The value of goods exported to the Occupied Palestinian Territories amounted to £2.1 million in 2005, £1.1 million in 2006 and £0.9 million in 2007. For exports where weight was recorded, the annual amounts were 602, 234 and 218 tonnes respectively.

Fisheries: Compensation

Anne Begg: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he will be in a position to publish the review of the Icelandic Trawlermen Compensation Scheme as promised in March 2007 in line with the findings of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report.

Patrick McFadden: I hope to make a statement on the trawlermen scheme shortly.

Flexible Working

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many refusals of requests for flexible working by  (a) (i) mothers and (ii) fathers in each year since 2003 and  (b) carers in 2007 were taken to employment tribunals.

Patrick McFadden: It is not possible to give a breakdown by mother, father or carer, or the number of claims on the grounds of refusal of request for flexible working, as this would incur a disproportionate cost.

Maternity Leave

Maria Miller: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what analysis he has made of changes in the length of maternity leave taken over the last 10 years; and what future trends in such leave he anticipates.

Patrick McFadden: In the last 10 years three surveys on maternity and paternity rights have been produced by my Department and the Department for Work and Pensions. These publications, which include a survey on the length of maternity leave taken, can be found at:
	1. Maternity rights and mothers' employment decisions
	(http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep496.pdf)
	2. Maternity and Paternity Rights and Benefits: Survey of Parents 2005
	(http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file27446.pdf)
	3. Maternity and Paternity Rights in Britain 2002: survey of parents
	(http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/ih2003-2004/IH131.pdf).
	Future trends in maternity leave have not been forecasted.

Postal Services

Nick Gibb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many post office boxes have been closed in the last 12 months; how many are expected to be closed in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The provision of post office boxes is an operational matter for which Royal Mail has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked the chief executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to give a direct reply to the hon. Member.
	A copy of the response will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Powers of Entry

Michael Ancram: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many powers of entry have been  (a) introduced and  (b) abolished by legislation introduced by his Department since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Home Department on 22 October 2008,  Official Report, column 452W.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Debts

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the level of  (a) public and  (b) private debt was in each year since 1979 expressed (i) in pounds sterling and (ii) as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested fails within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question asking what the level of (a) public debt and (b) private debt was in each year since 1979 expressed (i) in pounds sterling and (ii) as a percentage of the UK's gross domestic product. (229987)
	The table below shows the total financial liabilities of (a) the combined household and non profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sector (examples of institutions included within the NPISH sector are: charities; trade unions; universities; churches and political parties) and (b) the public sector which, is the central government, local government and public corporations sectors combined, in (i) pounds sterling and (ii) as a percentage of the UK's gross domestic product (GDP). Data for the household and NPISH sector are only available back to 1987. The data provided are consistent with the National Accounts published on 30 September 2008.
	
		
			   Total financial liabilities of the household and NPISH sector (£ billion)  Total financial liabilities of the household and NPISH sector as a percentage of GDP  Total financial liabilities of the public sector (£ billion)  Total financial liabilities of the public sector as a percentage of GDP 
			 1979 — — 158 79.2 
			 1980 — — 178 76.4 
			 1981 — — 183 71.5 
			 1982 — — 210 74.6 
			 1983 — — 230 74.8 
			 1984 — — 242 73.2 
			 1985 — — 257 71.1 
			 1986 — — 272 70.0 
			 1987 270 63.0 364 84.8 
			 1988 323 67.6 382 79.9 
			 1989 372 70.7 383 72.9 
			 1990 418 73.3 370 64.8 
			 1991 450 75.1 376 62.9 
			 1992 469 75.3 413 66.4 
			 1993 486 74.2 488 74.5 
			 1994 508 73.3 487 70.3 
			 1995 532 72.6 538 73.4 
			 1996 552 70.6 560 71.6 
			 1997 589 70.9 602 72.5 
			 1998 628 71.4 634 72.1 
			 1999 677 72.9 608 65.5 
			 2000 734 75.2 633 64.8 
			 2001 810 79.3 610 59.7 
			 2002 923 85.8 649 60.3 
			 2003 1,050 92.1 678 59.4 
			 2004 1,185 98.7 752 62.6 
			 2005 1,257 100.3 834 66.6 
			 2006 1,416 107.1 858 64.9 
			 2007 1,539 109.8 907 64.7 
			  Source: United Kingdom Economic Accounts http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=1904

Departmental Procurement

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2008,  Official Report, column 1186W, on departmental procurement, if he will place in the Library a copy of the list of names and addresses of each organisation that supplied goods or services to the Cabinet Office in 2007-08, derived from purchase order information held in the Department's electronic database.

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library a copy of the names and addresses of each organisation that supplied goods or services to the Cabinet Office in 2007-08, from the purchase order data held in the departmental financial system.

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library a copy of the names and addresses of each organisation that supplied goods and services to his Department in 2007-08, based on the purchase order data held in the Department's financial database.

Liam Byrne: This information is not recorded in the format requested and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is.

Tom Watson: The Department's HR records do not include information on routes of entry into the civil service. To collect this information would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
	Over the past five years the Department has recruited, on average, a total of 4-5 civil servants per year through the fast stream.
	Statistics on intake into the fast stream as a whole are published annually at
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/faststream
	Copies are available in the Library for the reference of Members.

Government Departments: Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 25-26WS, on data handling procedures, how many Government  (a) Departments and  (b) agencies store data outside the UK; and how many individuals' data are stored in this way.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the data handling report published on 25 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 25-26WS, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
	Data stored by Departments or agencies, whether in the UK or overseas, must be afforded the same level of protection as laid out in the new arrangements and adhere to UK data protection legislation.
	The total number of Government Departments and agencies storing data outside the UK is not held centrally.

Immigrants

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many immigrants to the UK from  (a) other EU member states,  (b) Pakistan, India and Bangladesh,  (c) African countries,  (d) the Caribbean countries and  (e) other countries there were in each year since 1979.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to respond to your question concerning how many immigrants to the UK from  (a) EU member states,  (b) Pakistan, India and Bangladesh,  (c) African countries,  (d) the Caribbean and  (e) other countries there were each year since 1979. (229985)
	Table 1, attached, gives an estimate of immigration to the UK from these countries of last residence between 1979 and 2006. This table is based solely on data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS), so excludes immigrants not covered by the IPS such as asylum seekers, people whose intentions change with respect to their length of stay in the UK and those from the Republic of Ireland.
	
		
			  Immigration estimates to the UK from EU member states, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, African countries, the Caribbean and other countries, 1979 to 2006 
			   Total  EU25  Pakistan, India, Bangladesh  African countries  Caribbean  Other countries 
			 1979 195 32 32 32 5 94 
			 1980 173 34 25 18 5 92 
			 1981 153 27 27 17 3 79 
			 1982 201 59 28 37 2 75 
			 1983 202 37 24 40 5 97 
			 1984 201 47 24 36 2 92 
			 1985 232 66 22 35 3 107 
			 1986 250 76 25 35 5 110 
			 1987 211 58 22 21 3 107 
			 1988 216 56 19 21 3 116 
			 1989 250 61 25 27 3 135 
			 1990 267 71 21 28 7 139 
			 1991 255 80 21 30 3 121 
			 1992 207 76 15 19 2 95 
			 1993 204 65 18 18 2 101 
			 1994 243 87 14 21 1 120 
			 1995 235 77 14 15 2 128 
			 1996 261 91 19 22 3 126 
			 1997 273 99 23 23 3 124 
			 1998 318 100 16 36 4 163 
			 1999 354 97 25 48 5 179 
			 2000 359 92 29 48 2 189 
			 2001 372 88 36 46 3 198 
			 2002 386 86 32 56 4 208 
			 2003 427 107 44 62 4 210 
			 2004 518 126 82 85 6 220 
			 2005 496 150 79 63 1 203 
			 2006 529 174 94 48 3 211 
			  Note: 1. Based on data from the International Passenger Survey. Excludes adjustments (1) those whose intended length of stay changes so that their migrant status changes; (2) asylum seekers and their dependants not identified by the IPS; and (3) flows between the UK and the Republic of Ireland. 2. Figures have been rounded independently and may not add to totals. 3. European Union 25 (EU25) consists of the EU15 member states: Austria, Belgium. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain. Sweden and the United Kingdom. the EUA8, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia; and Malta and Cyprus.  Source.  International Passenger Survey

Young People: Hampshire

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the number of 16 to 25-year-olds living in  (a) Southampton,  (b) Test Valley Borough and  (c) the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question about the number of 16-25 year olds living in (a) Southampton, (b) Test Valley and (c) the county of Hampshire (231307).
	The table below shows the estimated resident population of persons aged 16-25 years for the areas requested for mid-2007, the latest year for which estimates are available.
	
		
			  Mid-year population estimates of persons aged 16-25 years, 2007 
			  Area  Population (Thousand) 
			 Southampton 50 
			 Test Valley 12 
			 Hampshire county 149 
			  Source: Office for National Statistics 
		
	
	Please note that the population estimate for Hampshire county does not include the unitary authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Adult Education

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much has been spent on personal and community development learning in each year since 2002-03.

Si�n Simon: Informal adult learning, including personal and community development (PDCL) is highly valued by Government. We have made an unequivocal commitment to sustain its funding, with 210 million available every year until the end of the CSR period for adult safeguarded learning and 153 million for PCDL within this. This year we have also conducted a wide consultation on informal adult learning because we recognise the enormous contribution that this activity makes to the quality of life, health and well-being of individuals, neighbourhoods and wider society. These consultation findings will provide the basis for a new informal adult learning strategy for the 21st century.
	Table A shows the spend (in 000) for personal and community development (PCDL) in each year 2002-03 to 2007-08. The table also includes the projected spend from 2008-09 through to the end of the CSR period in 2010-11.
	
		
			  Table A: PCDL spend 2002-03 through to 2010-11 
			  000 
			Statutory Accounts Spend  Grant letterplanned 
			  Programme  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 PCDL 160,813 172,129 172,243 175,192 143,147 165,193 153,000 153,000 153,000 
			 Adult safeguarded learning (as it is now known)total 193,519 224,786 236,800 228,577 222,004 223,594 210,000 210,000 210,000 
			  Note:  Adult Safeguarded Learningtotal, includes PCDL, family literacy, language and numeracy, wider family learning, neighbourhood learning in deprived communities.

Adult Education

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many  (a) adult safeguarded learning places and  (b) personal and community development learning places (i) were funded by the Learning and Skills Council in each of the last five years and (ii) will be funded by the Learning and Skills Council in each of the next three years.

Si�n Simon: Informal adult learning is highly valued by the Government. We have made an unequivocal commitment to sustain its funding, with 210 million available every year until the end of the CSR period. This year we have also conducted a wide consultation on informal adult learning because we recognise the enormous contribution that this activity makes to the quality of life, health and well-being of individuals, neighbourhoods and wider society. These consultation findings will provide the basis for a new informal adult learning strategy for the 21st century.
	Table A shows the total number of Adult and Community Learners (now referred to as Adult Safeguarded Learning) from 2002/03 through to 2006/07. These figures are the closest proxy available to what was also termed Personal and Community Development (PCDL).
	
		
			  Table A: Adult and Community Learner numbers for 2002/03 to 2006/07 
			   Adult and Community Learning 
			 2003/04 842,100 
			 2004/05 871,400 
			 2005/06 793,400 
			 2006/07 745,500 
			  Note:  Figures prior to 2003/04 are not available  Source: Various statistical first releases 
		
	
	Table B shows the total planned number of Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funded learners numbers for Adult Safeguarded Learning for 2007/08 to 2010/11.
	
		
			  Table B: Planned Adult Safeguarded Learner numbers for 2007/08 to 2010/11 
			   Adult Safeguarded Learning 
			 2007/08 660,000 
			 2008/09 630,000 
			 2009/10 605,000 
			 2010/11 585,000 
			  Source: LSC Grant Letter 2008-09 
		
	
	We are currently also working on the LSC Grant Letter and Statement of Priorities for 2009-10, which will set out our investment strategy and associated learner numbers for 2009-10.

Adult Education

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  how many learner places funded by the Learning and Skills Council which would now be classified as development learning were available in each of the five years before 2008-09, broken down by whether the places are  (a) at or below level 2 or outside the national qualifications framework and  (b) at or above level 3 of the framework;
	(2)  how many learner places funded by the Learning and Skills Council and classified as development learning will be available in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11, broken down by whether the places are  (a) at or below level 2 or outside the national qualifications framework and  (b) at or above level 3 of the framework.

Si�n Simon: Our planned and continuing strategy has been to prioritise funding away from a high number of shorter and low-quality courses towards longer courses that offer people the greatest opportunity to gain employability skills and further progression in learning.
	The concept of 'developmental learning' was introduced for the academic year 2008-09. We are able to identify learner numbers at the level of qualification requested. However, owing to the way in which data are collected it is not possible to determine which learners at the lower levels would be now classified as foundation learning tier or developmental learning.
	The following table shows adult (aged 19 or over) FE learner numbers funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in the five most recent years for which data are available (actual figures for 2007-08 are not yet available).
	
		
			  LSC-funded FE adult learners 2002/03 to 2006/07 
			   Level 2 and below (million)  Level 3 and above (000) 
			 2002/03 2.2 550 
			 2003/04 2.3 536 
			 2004/05 2.4 544 
			 2005/06 2.1 479 
			 2006/07 1.5 424 
			  Note:  Learners whose level was not reported are not included here.  Source:  LSC Statistical First Release. 
		
	
	Forecast LSC-funded adult learners in developmental learning for the academic years 2008-09 to 2010-11 are given in the following table; figures for 2007/08 are not available.
	
		
			  LSC-funded learners through adult learner and employer responsive routes 
			   Developmental learning (000) 
			 2008/09 508 
			 2009/10 219 
			 2010/11 116 
			  Source:  LSC Grant Letter 2008/09. 
		
	
	These figures are for planning purposes only. It is for FE colleges and providers to determine the mix and balance of courses that they support in line with local priorities and demand. We are currently working on the LSC Grant Letter and Statement of Priorities for 2009-10 which will confirm the investment strategy for 2009-10 and associated learner numbers.

Adult Education

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  how much the Learning and Skills Council spent in each of the last five years before 2008-09 on learning that would now be classified as development learning, broken down by whether the learning was  (a) at or below level 2 or outside the national qualifications framework and  (b) at or above level 3 of the framework;
	(2)  how much the Learning and Skills Council plans to spend on developmental learning in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11, broken down by whether the learning is  (a) at or below level 2 or outside the national qualifications framework and  (b) at or above level 3 of the framework.

Si�n Simon: Total Government investment in the post-16 further education system has increased by 53 per cent. in real terms from 1997 to 2008. Over the next three years the Department's investment in adult skills is planned to increase from 4.6 billion in 2007-08 to 5.3 billion in 2010-11, a real terms increase of 7 per cent.
	The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Grant Letter for 2008-09 (November, 2007) set out levels of investment in developmental learning over the comprehensive spending review period for planning purposes only. This is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Planned LSC investment in developmental learning (adult learner and employer responsive route) 2008-09  to  2010-11 
			million 
			 2008-09 395 
			 2009-10 194 
			 2010-11 106 
			  Source: LSC Grant Letter 2008/09 
		
	
	While we know that this funding will be directed towards courses falling outside priority areas such as full level 2 qualifications, it is for FE colleges and providers to determine the mix and balance of courses that they support in line with local priorities and demand. It is therefore not possible to project the proportion of this funding that will be spent by level.
	Funding for FE colleges and providers is only provided at an overall budget level (i.e. the total budget for learners aged 19 or over on college based FE courses) rather than by level of qualification. In order to estimate spend against developmental learning type course we would need to know the number of learners on this provision. While we have information on the number of learners studying on courses at level 2 and below and level 3 and above, it is not possible to determine within these which would now fall within the developmental learning category and which would fall within for example the foundation learning tier.
	We are currently working on the LSC Grant Letter and Statement of Priorities for 2009-10 which will confirm the investment strategy for 2009-10 and associated learner numbers.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of people on programme-led apprenticeships proceeded to employed-status apprenticeships in each year since programme-led apprenticeships began.

Si�n Simon: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has not previously monitored the number of programme-led apprentices that proceed to employed-status apprenticeships. A field is being introduced to the 2008-09 individualised learner record data collection which will allow us to report this information from autumn 2009.
	Employment status is a requirement to achieve a full apprenticeship framework completion. Assessors identify whether a programme-led apprentice has achieved employment status before awarding a framework completion, but they do not routinely share this information with the LSC.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many programme-led apprenticeships there have been in each year since their inception.

Si�n Simon: This information is not currently available. My officials are currently collating this data and when it is ready, I will write to the hon. Member and place it in the Library.

Apprentices: Redundancy

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many apprentices were made redundant  (a) during an apprenticeship and  (b) shortly after finishing an apprenticeship in each of the last two years.

Si�n Simon: We do not hold data centrally about the number of apprentices made redundant while they are on an apprenticeship or after they have left. When apprentices do lose their jobs through redundancy, training providers and the Learning and Skills Council will endeavour to find alternative employment or training places. We have recently implemented a matching system for construction apprentices who are at risk of losing their jobs.

Christmas

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many Christmas functions  (a) he,  (b) officials from his Department and  (c) officials from its executive agencies (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2007-08; what the cost to the public purse was; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: In 2007-08 the Secretary of State hosted one official Christmas function for 50 people which cost 665. In addition the Secretary of State plus other Ministers and staff attended the joint carol service held by the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Staff attended in their own personal time. No public money was spent on this event.
	Departmental divisions do hold Christmas parties for staff to attend, for which these staff must pay. Christmas parties are not paid for out of departmental budgets.
	The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) hosted no Christmas functions with a cost to the public purse in 2007-08. Similarly, UKIPO officials attended no public Christmas functions at a cost to the public purse.
	In 2007-08 the National Weights and Measures Laboratory contributed 10 per member of staff towards the Christmas function. This amounted to some 530. Officials attended no other public Christmas functions at a cost to the public purse.
	Details of Christmas functions attended and hosted by other Ministers and officials of the Department and any possible resultant costs can be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental ICT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what IT projects  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies is undertaking; and what the most recent estimate of (i) the cost and (ii) the completion date of each is.

Si�n Simon: As far as we are aware, the following lists the projects currently being undertaken by DIUS and its agencies.
	
		
			  Projects  Expected completion date  Estimated cost (000) 
			 Directory ServicesDIUS January 2009 80 
			 Website Re-DesignIntellectual Property Office (IPO) November 2008 664 
			 Office/Exchange 2007IPO December 2008 960 
			 Register MaintenanceIPO January 2010 1,600 
			 Enforcement Database RebuildNational Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) November 2008 40.5 
			 Time recording systemNWML April 2009 24.9 
			 Website DevelopmentNWML December 2008 12.5 
			 Intranet DevelopmentNWML December 2008 6

Departmental ICT

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department spent on upgrading its IT in each of the last three financial years.

Si�n Simon: DIUS is a new Department established in June 2007 substantially from parts of the former DTI and DFES. It procured a unified ICT solution under a seven year agreement commencing 19 November 2007. The cost of the initial set-up and subsequent upgrades in the last three financial years was as follows.
	
		
			   000 
			 FY 2006/07 (1)0 
			 FY 2007/08 459 
			 FY 2008/09 (2)110 
			 (1) The Department did not exist (2) To date

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 21 October 2008
	The budgets for the Department's executive non-departmental public bodies are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   million 
			  Non -d epartmental  public b ody  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Higher Education Funding Council for England 7,466.7 7,706.3 8,061.0 
			 Student Loans Company 82.3 74.7 77.1 
			 Office for Fair Access 0.5 0.5 0.5 
			 Learning and Skills Council 11,589.0 12,017.0 12,599.0 
			 UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES)(1) 69.7 68.1 67.9 
			 Technology Strategy Board 180.0 243.0 253.0 
			 Design Council 6.0 6.0 6.0 
			 Arts and Humanities Research Council 103.5 104.4 108.8 
			 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council 427.0 452.6 471.1 
			 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 795.1 814.5 843.5 
			 Economic and Social Research Council 164.9 170.6 177.6 
			 Medical Research Council 605.5 658.5 707.0 
			 Natural Environment Research Council 392.2 408.2 436.0 
			 Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) 623.6 630.3 651.6 
			 Investors in People UK (IIP UK)(2) 6.7   
			 Quality Improvement Agency (QIA)(3) 1.1   
			 (1) Includes residual funding for Sector Skills Development Agency in 2007-08. (2) Funding for IIP UK for 2009-10 and 2010-11 is yet to be announced. (3) On 1 October 2008, the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) and the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) transferred their operations to the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS). In March, the Secretary of State sent LSIS a letter announcing a grant of 129 million for 2008-09. This figure has since been raised to 145 million.  Sources: Departmental Annual Report 2007-08 Annex 9 except Research Councils and STFC: The Allocations of the Science Budget 2008-09 to 2010-11 and IIP UK and QIA: Main Estimate 2008-09

Departmental Public Expenditure

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the cost to the public purse of his Department was in 2007-08.

Si�n Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created by machinery of government changes at the end of June 2007. In 2007-08 the Department spent 17.382 million in resource expenditure and invested 3.123 million in student loans and capital expenditure.
	 Source
	Resource Accounts 2007-08

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is.

Si�n Simon: The Department was created on 28 June 2007. Since that time to date, there have been 37 civil servants recruited through the generalist fast stream. The average salary is 27,262.

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) agencies sponsored by his Department since its creation.

Si�n Simon: Since the creation of DIUS, seven security passes have been reported lost by staff in the Department. Two passes for the National Weights and Measures Laboratory building have been reported lost. Records for the UK Intellectual Property Office do not distinguish between passes reported lost and those reissued for other reasons.
	No passes have been reported stolen, either in the Department or in the two agencies. However, records are not yet kept of stolen passes for the building that DIUS occupies in London.

Departmental Temporary Employment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which companies have been used by his Department for providing temporary staff since its establishment; and what the value of contracts with each such company was.

Si�n Simon: The Department was created on 28 June 2007. The Department has used two agenciesReed and Haysto recruit the majority of temporary staff at a total cost of 208,670.
	For a small number of specialist temporary staff, the Department has used other agencies but information on this could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Travel

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Havant of 3 March 2008,  Official Report, column 2219W, on taxis, what information on travel expenditure is collected centrally in his Department.

Si�n Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills' finance system records the following types of travel expenditure:
	Air
	Rail
	Vehicle hire
	Taxi
	In some cases of claims for travel and subsistence from individuals, the amounts are paid and recorded in total rather than being accounted for under each different type of transport used.

National Vocational Qualifications

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people took level 3 NVQs in childcare in the last three years, broken down by  (a) local authority area and  (b) further education college.

Si�n Simon: The information requested has been place in the Library.

National Vocational Qualifications

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of the working age population is educated to NVQ level  (a) 2 and  (b) 4; and which 20 local authorities of people so qualified in their working age population.

Si�n Simon: In the 2007 Annual Population Survey, 68.9 per cent. of the working age adult population in England were qualified to a least an NVQ Level 2 or equivalent and 30.2 per cent. of the working age adult population in England were qualified to a least an NVQ Level 4 or equivalent.
	Table 1 shows the 20 local education authorities with the highest proportion of their working age adult population qualified to at least NVQ Level 2 or equivalent standard.
	Table 2 shows the 20 local education authorities with the highest proportion of their working age adult population qualified to at least NVQ Level 4 or equivalent standard.
	
		
			  Table 1: The 20 local education authorities in 2007 with the highest proportion of the working age adult population qualified to at least NVQ Level 2 or equivalent 
			  Local education authority  Percentage of working age population qualified to at least level 2 
			  England 68.9 
			   
			 City of London 100.0 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 84.7 
			 Wandsworth 83.6 
			 Kingston-Upon-Thames 81.7 
			 Wokingham 80.7 
			 Westminster, City of 79.4 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 78.8 
			 Rutland 78.3 
			 Royal Windsor/Maidenhead 78.2 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 77.9 
			 Camden 77.6 
			 Brighton and Hove 77.5 
			 Trafford 77.3 
			 Surrey 77.3 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 76.9 
			 Merton 76.5 
			 Gloucestershire 76.2 
			 Bromley 76.0 
			 West Berkshire 75.7 
			 Warwickshire 75.5 
			 Notes: 1. The working age population is defined as males aged 19-64 and females aged 19-59. 2. Local authority is based upon individual's home postcode. 3. People are counted as being qualified to level 2 or above if they have achieved at least 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C, an Intermediate GNVQ, two or three AS levels or an NVQ level 2 or equivalent vocational qualification (or a qualification at level 3 and above). 4. LEA attainment estimates are subject to revision.  Source: January-December 2007 Annual Population Survey, England 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: The 20 local education authorities in 2007 with the highest proportion of the working age adult population qualified to at least NVQ Level 4 or equivalent. 
			  Local education authority  Percentage of working age population qualified to at least level 4 
			  England 30.2 
			   
			 City of London 75.4 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 58.7 
			 Wandsworth 57.7 
			 Westminster, City of 55.5 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 55.0 
			 Camden 52.8 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 51.0 
			 Kingston-Upon-Thames 50.6 
			 Lambeth 48.0 
			 Islington 47.7 
			 Merton 45.8 
			 Haringey 44.4 
			 Southwark 44.4 
			 Wokingham 44.0 
			 Brighton and Hove 43.8 
			 Royal Windsor/Maidenhead 42.1 
			 Barnet 42.1 
			 Ealing 40.7 
			 Surrey 40.2 
			 Hackney 38.7 
			  Notes: 1. The working age population is defined as males aged 19-64 and females aged 19-59. 2. Local authority is based upon individual's home postcode. 3. People are counted as being qualified at level 4 or above if they have achieved a foundation, first or higher degree, an NVQ level 4 or 5, a recognised degree-level professional qualification, an HNC/HND or other higher-level vocational or management qualification, a teaching or nursing qualification, or a diploma in higher education. 4. LEA attainment estimates are subject to revision.  Source: January-December 2007 Annual Population Survey, England

Taxis

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much was claimed in expenses for taxi travel by officials from  (a) his Department and  (b) its executive agencies in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2005-06, (iii) 2004-05, (iv) 2003-04 and (v) 2002-03; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created as a result of machinery of government changes in June 2007. Information on how much was claimed in expenses for taxi travel prior to this date is not held by the Department. In 2007-08 the Department spent 14,237 on taxi fares.
	The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has a contract with a taxi firm. The amounts paid in respect of that contract in the financial years 2002-03 to 2006-07 are as follows:
	
		
			   UKIPO () 
			 2002-03 3,916 
			 2003-04 4,237 
			 2004-05 3,712 
			 2005-06 4,549 
			 2006-07 8,461 
		
	
	The National Weights and Measures Laboratory make payments for taxi fares when reimbursing individual travel claims and estimates that it spends less than 50 per year on taxi fares.
	The Department and the UKIPO also make payments for taxi fares when reimbursing individual travel claims, but these are not recorded separately for the years in question.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

2008 Annual Report

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration was given to making a written ministerial statement on the publication of her Department's 2008 Annual Report.

Sadiq Khan: None. There is no central requirement for a ministerial statement and it has not been our practice to make one.

Audit Commission: Costs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the running costs of the Audit Commission were in 2007; and what estimate has been made of such costs for 2008.

John Healey: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I will ask the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member directly. I will ensure a copy of his letter is placed in the Library of the House.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, dated October 2008:
	Your Parliamentary Question on what the running costs of the Audit Commission were in 2007/08; and what such costs are estimated to be for 2008/09 has been passed to me for reply.
	The running costs of the Commission, based on total operating costs, were 216million for 2007/08. The estimate for 2008/09 is 211millon.
	The text of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Best Value

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by her Department on best value  (a) inspection subsidies to public corporations and  (b) interventions in the last year for which figures are available.

John Healey: The Audit Commission is a public corporation sponsored by Communities and Local Government, it receives grant funding from ourselves and other departments for its inspection work on best value authorities. These amounts are set out annually in the Commission's annual accounts, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. For 2007-08, the Commission received a total of 23.88 million from the Department under this heading.
	During the same year, 2,003,924 was paid in capacity building grants directly by the Department to support improvement in poorly performing local authorities.

Buildings: Electronic Government

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government further to her Department's plans for enabling electronic communication of building control documents, which public bodies other than local authorities  (a) may and  (b) will have access to this building control data, in whole or in part.

Iain Wright: The Building (Electronic Communications) Order S.I. 2008/2334 was made on 28 August 2008 and laid in Parliament on 4 September 2008. The provisions came into force on 1 October 2008. They simply enable building control bodies and competent persons to implement electronic communication capabilities and are entirely discretionary. As I indicated in my reply of 16 October 2007,  Official Report, column 1024W, they in no way change access rights to building control documents held by local authorities. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) applies to all information (electronic or otherwise), held by local authorities, including building control documents, and FOI requests can be made by public bodies.

Caravans

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Minister in her Department is responsible for policies related to  (a) static caravans and  (b) park homes.

Iain Wright: I am the Minister responsible for housing and planning policies within the Department relating to  (a) static caravans and  (b) park homes.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of the effects of introducing a community infrastructure levy in the current state of the property market;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the effect of the community infrastructure levy on  (a) house building rates and  (b) the viability of brownfield regeneration projects.

Iain Wright: The Government recognise that these are challenging economic times, but believe it is appropriate for the community infrastructure levy (CIL) to be introduced in due course. The development industry agrees that CIL is the right instrument to put in place for the longer term.
	As we made clear in our August policy statement, four particular features of CIL help to ensure it is fit for the full range of economic conditions.
	First, local authorities will be able to decide whether the circumstances in their area make the introduction of CIL appropriate and at what level to set the charge. Local authorities will proceed at different speeds in establishing a levy and some may decide not to introduce CIL at all. This means there will not be a 'big bang' introduction of this instrument across the country. Rather its introduction will be gradual and local.
	Secondly, if local authorities do decide to proceed with a CIL, they will need to set charges which reflect the economic circumstances of their areas, and will need to subject their CIL proposals to consultation with developers and the local community, and testing by an independent person. Chapter 3 of the August policy statement sets out the Government's proposals for this process.
	Thirdly, the Government expect that charges will need to be kept under review and revised if, for example, changes in land values led to charges becoming unviable. The Government will be considering what procedures for revision might look like, and how they can provide for appropriate levels of both flexibility and stakeholder scrutiny; and will work closely with stakeholders on these issues.
	Fourthly, the Government propose that charges will be indexed against a measure of inflation, enabling wider change in costs or prices (including deflation) to be automatically reflected in charges. Charging authorities will need to make judgments about how far such automatic responsiveness can accommodate changes in the market; and when a more thorough revision of the charging schedule might be necessary.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the annual net change in revenue to accrue from community infrastructure levy, compared with the revenue accruing from existing section 106 regime.

Iain Wright: As the Government set out at paragraph 2.7 of its August policy statement on the community infrastructure levy (CIL), CIL will provide further new resources to support housing growth and the development of local communities. Estimates on CIL's revenue raising potential are heavily dependent on assumptions about the number of planning authorities who choose to implement a CIL and the level at which CIL is set in each area. However, the Government believe that CIL has the potential to raise hundreds of millions of pounds per year of extra funding for infrastructure.
	Details of research estimating the value of planning obligations in the year 2005-06 are set out in the report Valuing Planning Obligations in England: Update Study for 2005-06. The report is available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningbuilding/planningresearch/researchreports/planningobligationsresearch.

Community Relations

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirements local authorities will have to set up a tension monitoring committee or working group.

Sadiq Khan: Tension monitoring is not a mandatory requirement for local authorities. The Guidance for local authorities on community cohesion contingency planning and tension monitoring, published on 6 May 2008, set a framework which each local authority can use to monitor local issues that may lead to tension and to put plans into operation if a problem is identified. It is the responsibility of each local authority to determine the scope of their tension monitoring and contingency planning.

Community Relations

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the budgets for  (a) the Government Office Transformation programme,  (b) the Community Empowerment Programme Board and  (c) the Preventing Violent Extremism programme are for (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10, (iii) 2010-11 and (iv) 2011-12.

Sadiq Khan: There is no separately allocated central budget for GO Transformation. The Regional Co-ordination Unit has a local budget of 288,500 for 2008-09 for projects planned to complete in December 2008. There are no local budgets set for future years.
	The overall budget for Preventing Violent Extremism for this comprehensive spending review period, including funds to local authorities through the area based grant (ABG), is 84.5 million. 45 million is paid through the ABG to local authorities and the remaining funding supports projects on preventing violent extremism. For more detail I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave todayUIN 231265.
	The budgets are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   million 
			  Programme  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Community Empowerment 16.0 26.5 31.3 
			 Preventing Violent Extremism 20.5 27.5 36.5 
			 Total 36.5 54.0 67.8 
		
	
	Only set budgets up to 2010-11. Budgets for 2011-12 onwards will be determined in the next spending review.

Compensation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the purpose of the compensation payments set out on page 62 of her Department's latest resource accounts were.

Sadiq Khan: In its 2007-08 resource accounts the Department has taken a provision of 3.8 million against compensation claims by staff and third parties. Most of this amount represents claims made by ex-Property Services Agency employees who have contracted lung disease because of exposure to asbestos.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Valuation Office Agency's targets are for  (a) elapsed time on council tax reports,  (b) banding accuracy and  (c) rateable value loss.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 10 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1786 by the right hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy).

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 10 September 2008,  Official Report, columns 1987-8W, on council tax, whether local authorities may grant a single person council tax discount on the condition that the householder permits an internal inspection of their property by a local authority representative.

John Healey: It is for local authorities to administer council tax, within the legislative framework set out in the Local Government Finance Act 1992, including the granting of discounts or exemptions.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1419W, on council tax, what guidance (a) the Valuation Office Agency,  (b) the Valuation Tribunal Service and  (c) the predecessors of her Department have provided on the application of the Limitations Act 1980 to repayments by local billing authorities for council tax bills in cases where there has been an error in the banding of a domestic dwelling.

John Healey: No guidance has been issued by the Valuation Office Agency, the Valuation Tribunal Service or the predecessors to Communities and Local Government on the application of the Limitation Act 1980 to repayments by local authorities for council tax bills in cases where there has been an error in the banding of a domestic dwelling.

Council Tax: Standards

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2008,  Official Report, column 112W, on council tax: standards, which data collections outside the National Indicator Set will be  (a) continued and  (b) discontinued.

John Healey: The process of reviewing data collections to identify reductions, which was referred to in the answer I gave the hon. Member on 28 January 2008,  Official Report, column 112W, is still underway.
	Departments have until May 2010 to identify and implement reductions which contribute to the cross-Whitehall 30 per cent. reduction target. Departments will publish annually every December in their Simplification Plans those data items which they have so far identified for discontinuation.

Council Tax: Students

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department has taken to implement recommendation 7.5 of the Lyons Inquiry report in relation to student households and council tax.

John Healey: Following consultation during summer 2007, the Government decided to use the average of counts of student exemptions taken in May and September to calculate projections of council tax base. This came into effect with the first full three-year settlement from 2008-09. I announced the provisional allocations to the House on 6 December 2007. Copies of the consultation paper which at paragraph 20 confirmed our intention to move to using average counts for student exemptions were placed in the Library and the text is available on my Department's website at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/0809/conpap.pdf
	We are continuing to discuss with local government how to best reflect student exemptions in the projections of council tax base for the next three-year settlement.

Council Tax: Tax Yields

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the forecast gross revenue from council tax is in England in  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11.

John Healey: Details of local authorities' budgeted council tax requirement for 2008-09 are in a Statistical Release that was published on 21 August 2008 and is available on the Communities and Local Government website at
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/ctax/ctax089.htm.
	Details of local authorities budgeted council tax requirement for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are not yet available.

Council Tax: Valuation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of private  (a) sales and  (b) rental transactions in England are accessible to the Valuation Office Agency through its interface with Rightmove.co.uk plc to assist with council tax revaluations.

John Healey: None. There is no council tax revaluation taking place.

Councillors

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued on the restriction on councillors from serving as staff on local authorities other than those on which they serve; and whether she plans to amend such guidance.

John Healey: We have issued no such guidance. In our White paper 'Communities in control: real people, real power', we gave a commitment to amend the legislative framework so that only the most senior and politically sensitive posts would be politically restricted.

Departmental Accountancy

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) purpose and  (b) nature of (i) the 136,000 ex gratia payment and (ii) the 286,000 adverse costs payment recorded on page 62 of her Department's most recent resource accounts were.

Sadiq Khan: The two amounts are balance sheet provisions recording an existing liability where there is uncertainty over the amount and/or timing of the payment; they do not record actual payments made. (i) The provision of 136,000 for ex-gratia payments is to cover eight claims against the Planning Inspectorate where liability has acknowledged but value is being negotiated, (ii) the provision of 286,000 for adverse costs is to cover legal costs incurred by the Planning Inspectorate where the final amount is yet to be determined.

Departmental Contracts

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contracts her Department has with external consultants; what the value of these contracts is in the current financial year, including VAT and disbursements; how long each contract lasts; and what the forecast total value of each contract is.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 28 October 2008
	The information is set out in the following table.
	Contracts with a total value of 7.8 million were let for consultancy work by the central department in the financial year to end-September. Contracts for less than 20,000 in total value are subject to local delegation and may not be listed. In the same period the Department spent 21.3 million on consultancy services excluding VAT. These contracts may have been let in previous periods. The expenditure totals include any approved charges for expenses and disbursements.
	
		
			  Table of consultancy contracts let by DCLGYear to end September 2008 
			  Vendor Name  Contract Value  Start Date  End Date  Duration Months 
			 Acumen consortium 84,640 27 August 2008 30 April 2009 8 
			 Acumen Consortium 9,000 16 July 2008 8 August 2008 1 
			 Addison and associates ltd 42,678 8 September 2008 11 November 2008 2 
			 Addison and Associates Ltd 56,048 30 May 2008 29 August 2008 3 
			 Amqis Consortium 260,582 28 June 2008 31 October 2008 4 
			 Brahm Ltd 18,175 22 September 2008 7 November 2008 2 
			 Business in the Community 68,080 1 October 2008 31 March 2010 18 
			 Certes Computing Ltd 101,375 1 October 2008 31 March 2009 6 
			 Chartered Inst of Housing 86,400 15 July 2008 28 February 2009 7 
			 CIRIA 49,964 2 July 2008 12 February 2008 2 
			 Collective Enterprises Ltd 2,999,648 1 October 2008 30 February 2011 36 
			 Deloitte MCS Ltd 30,000 12 August 2008 30 February 2008 2 
			 Entec UK Ltd 47,410 22 August 2008 30 January 2009 5 
			 Ethnos Research and Consultancy 81,880 8 October 2008 31 December 2009 15 
			 Europe Economics 154,030 11 July 2008 31 March 2010 21 
			 Faith Matters 90,000 24 October 2008 30 April 2009 6 
			 FDS International Ltd 47,303 12 May 2008 30 February 2008 5 
			 Greenstreet berman ltd 102,478 11 April 2008 10 April 2011 36 
			 Greenstreet Berman Ltd 72,837 18 April 2008 31 March 2009 11 
			 Hays Personnel Services 93,000 4 August 2008 31 January 2009 6 
			 Hays Personnel Services 93,000 23 July 2008 31 January 2009 6 
			 Hays Personnel Services 27,000 1 August 2008 31 October 2008 3 
			 Health and Safety Laboratories 99,000 28 July 2008 16 February 2009 7 
			 Heriot-Watt University 88,012 30 May 2008 31 March 2009 10 
			 Idenk Ltd 50,000 23 July 2008 30 February 2008 2 
			 IECR Ltd 73,370 29 April 2008 15 August 2008 4 
			 Improvement and Development Agency 89,000 1 April 2008 31 March 2009 12 
			 Informed Solutions Ltd 500,000 2 April 2008 31 August 2008 5 
			 Intelligent Addressing Ltd 20,300 28 July 2008 31 March 2009 8 
			 Kent University 88,820 16 September 2008 28 February 2009 5 
			 Lambert Smith Hampton 11,300 12 June 2008 12 December 2008 6 
			 Land Data CIC 50,000 14 July 2008 30 February 2008 3 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 21,875 29 August 2008 14 November 2008 3 
			 Market and Opinion Research Int Ltd 66,510 9 September 2008 21 November 2008 2 
			 Mott Macdonald Ltd 45,000 2 October 2008 19 January 2009 4 
			 NERA Economic Consulting 73,849 22 April 2008 15 August 2008 4 
			 OVE ARUP and Partners 53,575 12 August 2008 29 August 2008 1 
			 Oxford Consult Social Inclusion Ltd 57,000 24 July 2008 30 June 2010 23 
			 PA Consulting Services Limited 43,750 2 October 2008 30 November 2008 2 
			 PA Consulting Services Limited 127,305 16 May 2008 10 October 2008 5 
			 PA Consulting Services Limited 82,750 29 July 2008 3 October 2008 2 
			 Partnerships UK plc 579,000 5 May 2008 31 March 2010 19 
			 Progressive Recruitment Ltd 42,000 30 June 2008 5 October 2008 3 
			 Q1 Consulting Ltd 107,400 16 June 2008 15 December 2008 6 
			 Rocket Science UK Ltd 52,085 6 August 2008 3 October 2008 2 
			 Roger Tym and Partners 36,585 14 May 2008 1 July 2008 2 
			 Scott Wilson Ltd 78,705 6 May 2008 31 October 2009 18 
			 Securetest LLd 14,000 20 May 2008 20 July 2008 2 
			 SERCO 40,814 1 October 2008 31 March 2009 6 
			 Shared Intelligence Ltd 23,960 30 June 2008 27 February 2009 8 
			 Stanton Marris LLP 93,350 1 April 2008 30 June 2008 3 
			 Sustrans 39,997 23 July 2008 16 October 2008 3 
			 Teg Kenyon Limited 25,950 9 June 2008 31 October 2008 5 
			 Veredus Interim MGMT 111,175 23 September 2008 30 February 2009 12 
			 Xantura Limited 89,800 24 July 2008 28 February 2009 7 
			 Xantura Limited 89,820 24 July 2008 31 January 2009 6 
			 Total 7,681.583

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what sanctions are available in cases of departmental staff found to have committed disciplinary offences; and how many times each has been used in each of the last three years.

Sadiq Khan: The sanctions available in cases of departmental staff found to have committed disciplinary offences include:
	(a) written reprimand,
	(b) suspension from duty for a specified period including where appropriate loss of pay (either wholly or in part),
	(c) withholding performance related pay increases for a specified period (either wholly or in part),
	(d) a ban on promotion, normally for a specified period,
	(e) restitution (in whole or in part) by deductions from pay or otherwise for any loss of public funds caused by a breach or breaches of discipline, or for damage to, or theft of, departmental property caused by an employee,
	(f) deductions from pay for any period of unauthorised absence from duty,
	(g) an arranged move/transfer, or,
	(h) dismissal.
	In each of the categories above, where disciplinary action has taken place, no more then five occasions have taken place, and so we cannot release this information due to confidentiality issues.

Departmental Information Officers

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library copies of the assessments and reports made by her Department's press officers, or outsourced press monitoring operations, of media coverage of her Department for the last month.

Sadiq Khan: The Communications Directorate monitors media coverage of issues relevant to the Department's agenda on a daily basis and provides short, informal summaries of coverage to Ministers and departmental officials as appropriate. It also subscribes to a number of external newspaper cutting and broadcast monitoring services.

Departmental Mass Media

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisations provided media monitoring services to  (a) her Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) the non-departmental public bodies it sponsors in each of the last three years; and what the cost of each such contract was.

Sadiq Khan: The following organisations provided media monitoring services to the Department in each of the last three years. The cost of this service by financial year is shown in the relevant column:
	
		
			   
			  Organisation  FY 2005-06  FY 2006-07  FY 2007-08  Total 
			 Central Office of Information/Media Monitoring Unit (national broadcast media monitoring) 59,125 68,235 112,075 239,435 
			 EDS (National print news media monitoring) 178,547.90 204,181.41 187,153.64 569,882.95 
			 Total by FY 237,672.90 272,416.41 299,228.64 809,317.95 
		
	
	In addition to the aforementioned, the Department had an ongoing service agreement with the Central Office of Information for the provision of a range of regional media services, including regional print/broadcast news media monitoring. A break-down of costs specifically related to media monitoring provided by the COI during this period is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
	Information about media monitoring services provided to the Department's agencies and the non-departmental public bodies which it sponsors is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.

Development of English Regions Programme

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what projects her Department is undertaking through the Development of English Regions programme; and what the budget of each is.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 28 October 2008
	 There is no Development of the English Regions programme that CLG is aware of or in which CLG undertakes projects.

Eco-towns

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment her Department has made, and what legal advice it has commissioned, on the compatibility of her Department's promotion of the eco-town programme and specific sites with its role in the planning process for such sites.

Iain Wright: In the event that any planning decisions on eco-towns are referred to the Secretary of State they will be dealt with under the published guidance on planning propriety issues. In line with that guidance we have already made it clear that the Minister for Housing and Planning would not be involved in such decisions.

Eco-towns

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the planned budget for her Department's eco-towns programme is for each of the next three years.

Iain Wright: The eco-towns policy has been developed alongside our housing policies. The costs for developing the policy form part of the Department's running costs and are set out in the departmental annual report, Community, opportunity, prosperity. Future allocations to support infrastructure and local authority expenditure in relation to any of the sites will be drawn from the growth funding made available in CSR07.

Eco-towns

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the National Policy Statement on eco-towns will be location-specific.

Iain Wright: Housing projects will not be consented under the new regime being established under the Planning Bill for the determination of nationally significant infrastructure projects; there will not be a national policy statement on eco-towns.
	However we expect to publish shortly a draft eco-towns planning policy statement on the standards that eco-towns will have to meet alongside a sustainability appraisal, which will set out more details about assessing the possible locations.

Eco-towns

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the whole-programme timetable for the consultations in relation to eco-towns planning and development plans is.

Iain Wright: Until decisions on the final shortlist of locations with potential to be an eco-town have been made it is not possible to set out the timetable as it will be dependent on locations, the position with the relevant development plans at these locations and the planning permission process.

Eco-towns: Curborough

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of hectares of the proposed Curborough eco-town will be on greenfield land.

Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) gave him on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1159W, in which she confirmed that the Curborough eco-town proposal had been withdrawn from the eco-towns programme. The location is therefore being assessed as part of the Sustainability Appraisal (SA), and this will include details about development on greenfield land. We expect to publish the SA shortly and copies will be placed in the House Library.

Eco-towns: Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what funding and other resources her Department is providing to run road shows or other events to promote eco-towns;
	(2)  what the  (a) date and  (b) location of each exhibition and road show funded (i) directly and (ii) indirectly by her Department in relation to the eco-towns programme is.

Iain Wright: Exhibitions and roadshows will be taking place in venues close to the locations of potential eco-towns to provide the opportunity for local communities to express views and understand more about the potential eco-town proposed in their area. The dates of these events are still under consideration, and as soon as details are available my Department will publicise the dates and locations.
	The programme and budgets for these events are still in development, so I will write to the hon. Member with this information when we have finalised the programme.

Empty Property

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 1 September 2008,  Official Report, columns 1421-42W, on empty property, what the timetable for  (a) information gathering and  (b) the publication of the conclusions is;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2008,  Official Report, columns 1995-96W, on non-domestic rates: empty properties, which local authorities provided information on evasion of empty property rates.

John Healey: The Government have requested information from local authorities to provide information on evasion of empty property rates. The Government requested information in June and September and intend to request further information throughout the first year of the reforms and we will set out in an appropriate form our general findings in due course.

English Regions Network

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 September 2008,  Official Report, column 2082W, on the English Regions Network, if she will make it her policy to cease funding the English Regions Network.

John Healey: The consultation on the Review of Sub National Economic Development and Regeneration included proposals to remove regional planning powers from regional assemblies. We intend to publish our response to that consultation shortly.

Fire Services: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been paid  (a) by (i) employees and (ii) employers into and  (b) to those receiving pensions payments by the (A) new and (B) old firefighters' pension schemes in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The figures for the firefighters' pensions schemes are as follows(1):
	(1) These are locally administered schemes and data are provided by fire and rescue authorities. Prior to 2003-04, these data were not collected centrally. Final audited data not yet available for 2007-08.
	
		
			   million 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  New FPS 2006-07  Old FPS 2006-07 
			 Employee Contribution(1) (2)n/a 99.551 99.044 2.296 100.296 
			 Employer Contribution(3) n/a n/a n/a 3.009 197.992 
			   
			 Total Pensions Payments(4) 384.064 429.144 474.029 450.388 
			 (1) Employee contributions are 11 per cent. of pensionable pay for the 1992 firefighters' pension scheme and 8.5 per cent. for the 2006 new firefighters' pension scheme. (2) Data on employee contributions not collected centrally in 2003-04. (3) Prior to April 2006, fire and rescue authorities were responsible for paying pensions from their operating account. Since 2006-07, employer contributions are 21.3 per cent. of pensionable pay for the 1992 firefighters' pension scheme and 11 per cent. for the 2006 new firefighters' pension scheme. The figures in the table also include lump sum charges in respect of ill health retirements. (4) Excludes outward transfers to other pension schemes.

Fixed Penalties

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers local authorities have to issue fixed penalty notices.

Sadiq Khan: Fixed penalty notices are issued under various powers, which are the responsibility of a number of Government Departments.

Greenbelt: Planning Permission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning applications relating to development on green belt land have been called in by her or her predecessors since 1 October 2000; and how many such applications were ultimately  (a) approved and  (b) rejected.

Iain Wright: Since 1 April 2002, the Secretary of State has issued decisions on 31 called-in planning applications relating to development on green belt land. Of these, 15 were approved and 16 were rejected. Information for the period before April 2002 is not available as the national database recording Secretary of State planning decisions was not in existence before that date.

Householder Development Consents Review

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the implementation of the conclusions of the Householder Development Consents Review.

Iain Wright: The review recommended that it should be easier for people to improve their homes by removing the need for planning applications where development would have little impact on others. We implemented changes to householder permitted development rights, in response to these recommendations, on 1 October.

Housing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's research entitled Impact of Demographic Change on Housing, with project reference: RAE 3/16/16.

Iain Wright: The report from this research project is entitled Housing Choices and Aspirations of Older People, and was published on the Communities and Local Government website in February 2008. I have placed a copy of this report in the Library.

Housing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will review provisions in the Land Compensation Act 1961 relating to the rebuilding of houses destroyed by Second World War ordnance following the recent Court of Appeal ruling in Greenweb Ltd. v. Wandsworth Borough Council [2008] WLR (D), 286, with particular reference to the recommendations of the Law Commission on sections 15(3) and (4) of that Act.

Iain Wright: We have no plans to do so. I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made by the then Minister for Housing and Planning on 15 December 2005,  Official Report, column 162WS, about the Government's response to the Law Commission's report Towards a Compulsory Purchase Code.
	The Greenweb  v. Wandsworth case is unfortunate, but it is also exceptional. The response to the Law Commission's report has to be viewed against the background of the range of planning reforms that the Government have introduced since 2004, which have streamlined the planning system and ensured that the majority of individual applications are dealt with much more swiftly.

Housing: Low Incomes

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average number is of data items held for each property on the National Register of Social Housing.

Iain Wright: As of 18 September 2008 the average number of data items held on each dwelling recorded in the National Register of Social Housing was 39.

Housing: Low Incomes

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households are expected to be supported by the HomeBuy Direct scheme in each of the next three years; and at what cost to the public purse.

Iain Wright: HomeBuy Direct is expected to provide the opportunity for up to 10,000 households to access affordable home ownership over financial years 2008-09 and 2009-10. It is difficult to give an accurate estimate of delivery in each year before the conclusion of the competition to select suitable schemes and properties from house builders. This competition opened on 1 October and is expected to conclude by the end of the 2008-09 financial year. However, we have published indicative figures that suggest that there could be up to 8,333 HomeBuy Direct completions in 2009-10.
	The scheme has been allocated 300 million of Communities and Local Government funding.

Housing: Prices

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department has undertaken, commissioned or evaluated on the relative changes of the prices of houses and flats in the last 12 months.

Iain Wright: Data on house price changes by dwelling type are available from the monthly CLG house price index available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housepriceindex.
	CLG uses data from the Regulated Mortgage Survey (RMS), carried out by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, to calculate mix-adjusted house prices for the CLG house price index. The RMS includes mortgage completions data which cover approximately 60 per cent. of the UK mortgage market in 2007.

Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the level of tenant satisfaction with each registered social landlord's performance on repairs and maintenance was in each of the last five years.

Iain Wright: The Housing Corporation requires registered social landlords (RSLs) to survey their tenants at least every three years in a form consistent with the National Housing Federation's STATUS (Standard Tenant Satisfaction Survey) methodology. Since 2007, the Housing Corporation has collected information from RSLs' general needs tenant surveys on satisfaction with repairs, which is published as the performance indicator 'Tenant satisfaction with repairs and maintenance service'. In accordance with its published performance indicator criteria, the Corporation publishes the results on this performance indicator for associations with greater than 1,000 dwellings in total and that manage at least 250 general needs dwellings.
	This information is not available for years before 2007. The information for 2007 is available through the Housing Corporation's website at:
	http://housingpis.co.uk/
	The information for 2008 will be published on the website shortly.

Housing: Sustainable Development

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account was taken of British Standard BS 5906:2005 on waste management in buildings in the development of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Iain Wright: The guidance in British Standard 5906:2005 is used as the basis of the methodology for calculating the volume of waste storage space required for the mandatory recycling element in the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Housing: Sustainable Development

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties have been granted a zero star rating under the Code for Sustainable Homes in each month since the code's inception.

Iain Wright: A property can be awarded a zero star rating under the Code for Sustainable Homes if it does not meet the credits required to achieve a specific level (1-6). There have been no properties awarded a zero star certificate to date. If a zero star certificate was issued it would be accompanied by a report that explained what elements of the code were achieved.
	A nil rated certificate is a self-declaration by a builder that they have built their dwelling to meet the standards set down in Building Regulations rather than building to a specific level of the code. A nil rated certificate can be freely downloaded from the internet and included in a home information pack for a new home. We do not collect data on the number of nil rated certificates.

Interreg Programme

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what projects are being considered under the Interreg IVC programme which relate to the United Kingdom.

John Healey: Five projects have been approved with UK lead partners in the first call for projects on Interreg IVC programme, which has now closed.
	These are:
	1. Powerwhere the South East RDA is the lead partner
	2. SEEwhere Design Wales is the lead partner
	3. PIMMS Transferwhere the London Borough of Bromley is the lead partner
	4. GRaBSwhere the Town and Country Planning Association is the lead partner
	5. RAPIDEwhere the South West Regional Development Agency is the lead partner.

Local Authorities

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the terms of reference are of the review by Land Data cic of local authorities; what the cost is to the public purse for the work; and when it will report.

Iain Wright: Land Data cic were commissioned to develop a database on local authority performance, and state of preparedness following guidance issued by the Department, on access to property search information and forthcoming guidance on charging for property search information
	The total costs were 53,439.77 (inclusive of VAT). We received a report on 3 October 2008 which we are currently considering.

Local Authorities: Public Relations

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department and its predecessors have issued to local authorities on local authority-funded  (a) public relations and  (b) marketing in each of the last five years.

John Healey: We have issued no such guidance other than the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, first issued in 1988 and revised in 2001, which remains in force. In our White Paper Communities in control: real people, real power, we have undertaken to consult on potential changes to the publicity code, which we intend to do shortly.

Local Government Services: Sports

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department has taken steps to encourage implementation of the recommendations of the Audit Commission's 2006 report into Public Sports and Recreation Services.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government welcomed this important report, which highlighted the need for better, more strategic decision making by local authorities on the procurement and management of leisure facilities. We want to help local authorities to modernise their leisure facilities and to ensure that the right sports facilities are provided in the right location. Sport England has developed a range of strategic planning tools to assist them. These include: the Active Places database, which provides a comprehensive picture of a range of sports facilities across the country; the National Benchmarking Service; a facilities planning model; and a sports facilities demand estimator. In addition, Sport England's Facilities Improvement Service is working closely with a number of local authorities to improve their strategic planning for community sport at the local level.
	On the specific recommendations:
	Through the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Free Swimming programmes a range of Government Departments, including the Department of Health, Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are working together to ensure a coordinated approach to investment in sports and recreation facilities;
	As part of the BSF programme, local authorities must demonstrate that they have consulted with Sport England, County Sports Partnerships, sports governing bodies and others concerning the strategic development of school sports facilities within their area. Additionally, Partnerships for Schools' PE and sports advisers help local authority sports stakeholder groups to develop dual school community-use facilities;
	In BSF, the local education partnership (LEPS) actively promotes opportunities for local councils to develop strategic capital development proposals to achieve better value for money through joint procurement;
	DCMS were not allocated private finance initiative (PFI) credits in CSR07 and will not therefore be directly supporting any leisure PFI projects but continue to work with councils who are currently procuring leisure facilities through PFI and with the public private partnerships programme (4ps) and regional centres of excellence on procurement guidance. Sport England is also working with a number of local authorities on the development of sustainable public private partnerships.

Local Government: Standards

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what impact assessment has been produced by  (a) her Department and  (b) the Audit Commission on the effect of moving from comprehensive performance assessment to comprehensive area assessment.

John Healey: A copy of the Regulatory Impact Assessment carried out for the 2006 Local Government White Paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities, is available on my Department's website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/154064.pdf
	This impact assessment covered all of the policy proposals in the White Paper including the changes to the local assessment and inspection regime.
	The inspectorates consulted jointly this summer on the methodology Government have tasked them to develop for the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). They have carried out an equalities impact assessment of their methodology proposals, on which a report was appended to the consultation document. This can be accessed via:
	http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/caa/consultation.asp

Local Government: Standards

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what statutory requirements there are on local authorities to provide information on an authority's activities in the area it serves.

John Healey: Information listing the statutory requirements placed on local authorities to provide information about their activities in their areas is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. This is because the requirements are contained in various different enactments not all of which are the policy responsibility of DCLG.

Non-Domestic Rates

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the premises of diplomatic missions are  (a) valued for non-domestic rates by the Valuation Office Agency and  (b) exempt from non-domestic rates.

John Healey: Premises of diplomatic missions are  (a) valued by the Valuation Office Agency, being shown in rating lists, and  (b) not exempt from non-domestic rates. Consular premises nevertheless enjoy a statutory immunity contained in the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964, which prevents the enforcement of rate demands.

Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average cost of empty property business rates to local authorities in 2008-09 arising from empty local authority properties.

John Healey: An impact assessment detailing the impact of the empty property reforms was published by Communities and Local Government in May 2007 accompanying the introduction of the Rating (Empty Properties) Bill and a further assessment was laid before this House on the 26 February accompanying the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008No. 386.

Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how the forecast additional revenue arising from empty property business rates will be  (a) treated and  (b) disposed of.

John Healey: The forecast additional revenue arising from empty property business rates has been taken into account in the calculation of the distributable amount.

Non-domestic Rates: Valuation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1427W, on non-domestic rates: valuation, whether each sub-location is given  (a) a name and  (b) a unique number.

John Healey: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Each sub-location is given a description.
	 (b) Each sub-location has a unique identifier.

Ordnance Survey

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she has issued to Ordnance Survey on its role as  (a) an adviser and  (b) a commercial supplier to the Government.

Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the fourth paragraph of section 2.2 of Ordnance Survey's Framework Document, July 2004, available at:
	http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/aboutus/reports/index.html
	The Department has not issued guidance to Ordnance Survey in its role as a commercial supplier to the Government.

Ordnance Survey: Databases

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what datasets Ordnance Survey has purchased from the company MapInfo.

Iain Wright: Ordnance Survey has purchased no datasets from Pitney Bowes MapInfo. The standard MapInfo software product includes sample datasets but these are not used by Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey: Visits Abroad

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much Ordnance Survey has spent on overseas travel for its staff in the last 12 months; and which  (a) cities and  (b) countries have been visited.

Iain Wright: Ordnance Survey's total expenditure on overseas travel in the 12 months to 30 September 2008, was 180,320 on overseas travel. The cities and countries visited were as follows:
	
		
			  Country  City 
			 Australia Melbourne 
			   
			 Austria Graz 
			  Vienna 
			   
			 Bahrain Bahrain 
			   
			 Belgium Brussels 
			   
			 Canada Vancouver 
			   
			 Croatia Dubrovnik 
			   
			 Denmark Copenhagen 
			   
			 Eire Dublin 
			  Shannon 
			   
			 Estonia Tallinn 
			   
			 Finland Helsinki 
			   
			 France Paris 
			  Nice 
			   
			 Germany Berlin 
			  Frankfurt 
			  Hanover 
			   
			 Hungary Budapest 
			   
			 Italy Milan 
			  Catania 
			   
			 Latvia Riga 
			   
			 Libya Tripoli 
			   
			 Luxembourg Luxembourg 
			   
			 Netherlands Amsterdam 
			   
			 Norway Oslo 
			   
			 Poland Warsaw 
			   
			 Portugal Lisbon 
			   
			 Romania Bucharest 
			  Sibiu 
			   
			 Sweden Stockholm 
			   
			 USA Baltimore 
			  Boston 
			  Chicago 
			  Detroit 
			  Orlando 
			  San Diego 
			  San Francisco 
			  Seattle 
			  St. Louis 
			  Washington

Parish Councils: Public Participation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she plans to take to implement her proposal to make parish polls more accessible contained in the Community Empowerment White Paper.

John Healey: Any changes to the current arrangements for parish polls will require legislation. We plan to consult on making parish polls more accessible in the new year. Following consultation we will give consideration to the detail of any legislative changes that may be necessary.

Planning Permission

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to amend  (a) primary and  (b) secondary legislation on the manner in which the Secretary of State may specify circumstances for the intervention on and determination of planning applications.

Iain Wright: The Government have no plans to amend any primary or secondary legislation, nor their policy on the circumstances in which the Secretary of State may intervene in the determination of planning applications. The Government are, however, currently reviewing the extent to which planning applications should be automatically referred to the Government for consideration for call-in. Having undertaken a consultation exercise between 7 January 2008 and 31 March 2008, work is now in progress on preparing a composite new direction.

Preventing Violent Extremism Programme

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what projects her Department is undertaking through the Preventing Violent Extremism programme; and what the budget of each is.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 28 October 2008
	Our overall budget for the Preventing Violent Extremism programme in the current comprehensive spending review period (2008 to 2011) is 84.5 million. Of this, 45 million is being paid through Area Based Grant (ABG) to local authorities, and it is for those authorities to determine how the funds are invested locally: they are not ring-fenced.
	The allocation of the remaining funding has not yet been finalised, but we expect to support projects in a number of areas including: theological understanding; building community resilience; engaging and empowering young Muslims and Muslim women; local partnerships and delivery; faith institutions; and research and evaluation.

Regional Efficiency Improvement Partnerships

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been allocated to regional efficiency improvement partnerships in  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11.

John Healey: In respect of 2008-09 funding, I refer the hon. Member to the answer he was given on 21 April 2008,  Official Report, column 1414W by my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda).
	Decisions in respect of 2009-10 funding will be released with the main estimates for 2009-10.

Regional Empowerment Consortia

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2008,  Official Report, column 1412W, on regional empowerment consortia, how much her Department has allocated to regional empowerment consortia in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10.

Sadiq Khan: For 2008-09 the Community Development Foundation received 1,645,000 from the Department for Communities and Local Government to support nine independent regional empowerment consortia. Subject to satisfactory performance review the Community Development Foundation will receive for 2009-10 a further 1,715,000 to continue this support.

Regional Planning and Development: Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1411W, on regional planning and development, whether she has received notification from Castle Point borough council that it has set a target for submission to her of the Local Development Plan of March 2009; and if she will make a statement.

Iain Wright: The Secretary of State has not received formal notification from Castle Point borough council of its latest timetable for progressing its core strategy which is the primary development plan document in the local development framework.
	However the borough council has told the Government office for the east of England that it intends to publish a pre-submission consultation in December 2008 with formal submission to the Secretary of State to follow in February 2009.
	The council has also indicated that it intends to review its local development scheme next year with submission to Secretary of State expected by March 2009.

Retail Trade: Planning

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the Government to publish its assessment of whether to introduce a competition test to the planning system for retail development.

Iain Wright: The Government published their response to the Competition Commission's (CC) inquiry into UK groceries retailing in July. The CC recommendation to introduce a 'competition test' in planning decisions on larger grocery stores is an important recommendation both for the Commission and for large grocery retailers. The Government are carefully considering this recommendation and Tesco have appealed this decision to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
	We will report more fully on our decision in the light of developments. Our published response can be viewed on the BERR website at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/bbf/competition/market-studies/supplyofgroceries/index.html

Right to Buy Scheme

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many social tenants participated in the  (a) right to buy and  (b) right to acquire scheme in each year since the introduction of each scheme.

Iain Wright: Information is available on the numbers of social housing sales, rather than the number of social tenants participating in the RTB and RTA schemes.
	The following table shows:  (a) the numbers of local authority right to buy sales in England since the scheme was introduced in 1980 and the numbers of registered social landlord right to buy and preserved right to buy right sales and  (b) the number of registered social landlord right to acquire sales since its introduction in 1997.
	
		
			  Year( 1)  LARTB sales( 2)  RSL RTB and PRTB sales( 3,4)  Total right to buy sales  Total right to acquire sales( 5) 
			 1980-81 2,330  2,330  
			 1981-82 105,200  105,200  
			 1982-83 167,120  167,120  
			 1983-84 106,260  106,260  
			 1984-85 77,520  77,520  
			 1985-86 72,140  72,140  
			 1986-87 76,750  76,750  
			 1987-88 93,730  93,730  
			 1988-89 135,700  135,700  
			 1989-90 133,800  133,800  
			 1990-91 76,330  76,330  
			 1991-92 48,290  48,290  
			 1992-93 37,690  37,690  
			 1993-94 44,680  44,680  
			 1994-95 43,340  43,340  
			 1995-96 31,510  31,510  
			 1996-97 33,210 2,380 35,580  
			 1997-98 41,330 4,500 45,830 0 
			 1998-99 40,270 4,410 44,690 0 
			 1999-2000 54,250 7,250 61,500 4 
			 2000-01 52,380 7,100 59,480 18 
			 2001-02 51,970 8,220 60,190 38 
			 2002-03 63,390 10,470 73,870 111 
			 2003-04 69,580 14,530 84,100 236 
			 2004-05 49,980 8,670 58,650 411 
			 2005-06 26,650 6,360 33,010 471 
			 2006-07 16,900 4,840 21,730 570 
			 2007-08 11,960 3,150 15,110 (6)544 
			 Total 1,764,260 81,860 1,846,120 (6)2,403 
			 (1) Figures for individual years are rounded and may not add to the total. (2) Local authority right to buy figures are from returns (PIB) from local authorities to Communities and Local Government. (3) Registered social landlord right to buy and preserved right to buy figures are from the Regulatory and Statistical Return to the Housing Corporation. (4) Figures are not available for individual years for the number of registered social landlord right to buy are before 1996-97, although it is estimated that there were approximately 100,000 RSL RTB sales up to 1995-96. (5) Right to acquire figures are from Housing Corporation information. (6) Provisional.

State of the Cities Database

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the purpose of the proposed State of the Cities Database development is.

John Healey: CLG is committed to keeping the key data that underpinned the State of the English Cities report, published by ODPM in March 2006, updated within the State of the Cities Database (SOCD). The database is used extensively by central and local government. Regional Development Agencies, academics and bodies like the Centre for Cities and Work Foundation, to monitor the progress and performance of cities in England.
	Taking account of feedback received from users since the launch of SOCD in November 2006, a new and improved version of the database was published by the Department in September of this year.
	The Department is considering making further improvements to SOCD, by looking at replacing data on Wards and Tracts with data on Super Output Areas (SOAs). This is because since the release of the 2001 Census, SOAs have mainly replaced Wards for the release of statistical information.

Trees: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what planning constraints are in place relating to the felling of trees within Lever Park, Rivington, near Chorley.

Iain Wright: I understand that there is a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) which Chorley borough council have placed on an ancient tree, having recognised its special character as being far older than the rest of those in the park. More generally there are controls through the Forestry Act 1967 which give the Forestry Commission the control over felling trees in any quantity.

Valuation Office: Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1429W, on the Valuation Office: council tax, if she will list each type of property attribute data that is sold.

John Healey: No council tax property attribute data is included in the sale of data reported on Page 54 of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08.

Valuation Office: ICT

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 30 June 2008,  Official Report, column 630W, on the Valuation Office: ICT, on what date the copy of the guidance was placed in the Library.

John Healey: A copy of the guidance was placed in the Library on 3 July 2008.

Waste Disposal

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have cited a move to an alternate weekly collection of household rubbish as an efficiency saving in their annual efficiency returns submitted to her Department.

John Healey: For information on citations in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 Backward Look efficiency statements, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 14 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 1173-74W. For information on citations in the 2006-07 Backward Look efficiency statements, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend, the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda) on 18 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1324W.
	Citations in the 2007-08 Backward Look efficiency statements are as follows:
	Canterbury city council
	Charnwood borough council
	Crewe and Nantwich borough council
	Kennet district council
	Kirklees metropolitan borough council
	North Hertfordshire district council
	Redditch borough council
	Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council
	South Cambridgeshire district council
	Spelthorne borough council
	Swale borough council
	Test Valley borough council
	West Lancashire district council
	York city council

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Departmental Information Officers

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many press and communications officers are employed by  (a) his Department,  (b) its non-departmental public bodies and  (c) its agencies.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information is as follows.
	 (a) There are currently 20 press officers and 63 communications officers in the Department for Children Schools and Families.
	 (b) We do not hold numbers of staff employed in our non-departmental public bodies.
	 (c) The Department does not have any agencies.

Health Education: Sex

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  if he will publish the results of the research commissioned by his Department's Sex and Relationship Education Steering Group;
	(2)  what evidence was considered by the Sex and Relationship Education Steering Group on the effectiveness of delivering sex and relationship education before the onset of sexual activity.

Jim Knight: The Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) Review steering group considered a wide range of evidence to inform its report and recommendations. This included: existing surveys and reports, such as the latest Ofsted reports on PSHE and the findings from the UK Youth Parliament's report on SRE; new evidence that was commissioned specifically for the review, such as surveys of teachers' views on what was preventing better delivery of SRE; and a literature review on the existing international evidence on SRE. Details of the range of evidence considered by the steering group are referenced in its report. The specific evidence that concludes that 'sex education is more effective if begun before the onset of sexual activity' is included in the following reports:
	Update on review of reviews on teenage pregnancy and parenthood, Trivedi D, Bunn F, Graham M, Wentz R, Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care, University of Hertfordshire, On behalf of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and
	Downing, J. et al. (2006) Prevention of STIs: a review of reviews into the effectiveness of non-clinical interventions (evidence briefing update) London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
	The new surveys commissioned by the steering group will be published once further analysis of the findings has been completed.

Plain English

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many documents produced by his Department and its predecessor were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families and its predecessors have not used the Plain English Campaign since 2005.
	The Department has its own style guide based on good practice and designed around its stakeholders.

Primary Education: Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to extend the National Challenge to primary schools; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: We have no plans to extend the National Challenge to primary schools. There will not be a programme that challenges every single primary school to reach a minimum standard.
	Local authorities can choose to adopt a floor target for their primary schools as part of their local area agreement but there are no compulsory floor targets for local authorities or for individual primary schools. The optional floor target has been in place for over a year and is that schools should achieve 55 per cent. or more pupils attaining Level 4+ in English and maths combined at Key Stage 2.
	Our priority is to help all primary schools improve and work towards our Children's Plan goalsso that by 2020 every child will leave primary school ready to move on to secondary school, with at least 90 per cent. of pupils achieving at or above the expected level in both English and mathematics by age 11.

Pupil Exclusions: Disadvantaged

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils eligible for free school meals were given a fixed period exclusion in the last 12 months, broken down by national curriculum year group.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It is not possible, given the amount of analysis required, to provide a response to this question within the time frame required by Parliament. The requested information will be placed in the House of Commons Library shortly.

Pupil Referral Units

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children who attended pupil referral units in each of the last five years were  (a) pupils permanently excluded from school and on fixed-term exclusions of more than 15 days,  (b) pregnant schoolgirls and school-aged mothers,  (c) anxious or vulnerable pupils,  (d) school refusers, phobics and young carers,  (e) pupils unable to attend school because of medical reasons,  (f) pupils moving into the local authority (casual admissions) who were unable to find a school place because of insufficiency of school places within the local authority,  (g) children who, because of entering public care or moving placement, required a change of school and were unable to access a school place,  (h) pupils with statements of special educational need (SEN) whose placements were not yet agreed and pupils awaiting assessment of SEN and (i) asylum seekers and refugees who had no school place.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is not collected.
	The available information about the number of pupils with a statement of special educational need in pupil referral units has been published in a series of statistical publications, the most recent of which is the Statistical First Release: Special Educational Needs in England: January 2008
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000794/index.shtml

Pupil Referral Units: General Certificate of Secondary Education

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils who attended pupil referral units did not achieve an A*-G grade in either English or mathematics GCSE in each of the last 10 years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: This information can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Pupil Referral Units: Head Teachers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupil referral units had more than  (a) one,  (b) two and  (c) three headteachers in the last year for which records are available.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information is not held centrally.

Pupil Referral Units: Teachers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what the average vacancy rate for teachers in pupil referral units was in each of the last five years, broken down by  (a) local authority and  (b) region;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of teachers at pupil referral units have received special educational needs teacher training beyond their initial teacher training.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is not available.

Schools: Disabled

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many schools in England and Wales have produced a disability equality scheme since the coming into force of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005;
	(2)  how many maintained schools have been prosecuted for breaches of the disability equality duties provided for in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005;
	(3)  what steps he has taken to monitor schools' compliance with their duty to prepare and publish a disability equality scheme;
	(4)  what steps he has taken to monitor  (a) schools' and  (b) local authorities' compliance with their general duty to promote disability equality.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We expect all schools and local authorities to meet their duties to promote disability equality and publish disability equality schemes and we have produced guidance to support them in doing so.
	It is part of the remit of the Equalities and Human Right Commission to monitor compliance with these duties.
	Under Ofsted's inspection arrangements, schools are expected to complete a self-evaluation form, confirming the extent to which they have met the general requirements of disability discrimination legislation. However, the Department does not monitor centrally schools and local authorities' compliance with disability discrimination legislation.
	The first Secretary of State Report on progress towards disability equality will be published on 1 December 2008. As part of preparations for this report a research project has been commissioned to look at how schools are engaging with the specific disability equality duty outlined within the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. A series of national events for schools and local authorities will be hosted by the DCSF in February 2009 to share the learning from the Secretary of State Report.

Schools: Discipline

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether the Government plans to provide headteachers with additional powers to increase school discipline.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government have significantly strengthened schools' powers to discipline. We have introduced a range of legislation to protect schools from challenges to their disciplinary authority and that reinforces parental responsibility.
	New measures in the 4th session Education Bill include extending the existing power to search pupils for weapons to also include alcohol, illegal drugs and stolen property.
	In addition to new legal powers, we have also provided schools with high quality training, materials and consultancy support to enable them to promote positive behaviour. We are also helping them form partnerships with other schools, police and other agencies to strengthen behaviour management.

Truancy: Disadvantaged

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils eligible for free school meals took unauthorised absence in the last 12 months, broken down by national curriculum year group.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It is not possible, given the amount of analysis required, to provide a response to this question within the timeframe required by Parliament. The requested information will be placed in the House of Commons Library shortly.

UK Council for Child Internet Safety

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on what dates the UK Council for Child Internet Safety has met; when it next plans to meet; and how often he expects the council to meet.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The UK Council for Child Internet Safety was launched on 29 September by the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. All current members of the Council were invited to attend.
	With a large and broad membership of over 100 organisations, most Council activity will be conducted through sub and working groups. These groups will consider cross cutting issues or take forward key commitments within the Byron Review Action Plan. The frequency with which these groups meet will be determined by their membership. This work will be overseen by the executive board, chaired by Home Office and DCSF Ministers, which is expected to meet around four times a year. Dates for the first and future meetings of the executive board are currently being considered.
	It is currently anticipated that the full Council will meet once per year at the Prime Minister's annual summit for child internet safety. A date for the first summit is yet to be confirmed.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan: Reconstruction

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has undertaken of the effects of UK-funded reconstruction and development projects in Afghanistan; what plans it has for such studies in the future; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Department for International Development (DFID) assistance is helping the Government of Afghanistan to deliver positive results. Since 2002 the non-poppy economy has grown by an average of 15 per cent. per year, with overall growth up to 2005-06 standing at 42 per cent. The first parliamentary elections for 36 years were held in September 2005. 6 million children are now in school of which 35 per cent. of whom are girls. This is in comparison with 2001, when an estimated 1 million children were in school and very few were girls as they were denied education under the Taliban.
	DFID assistance also impacts directly on local communities. We have committed 50 million (2003-10) to support elected Community Development Councils (CDCs). CDCs have delivered over 23,000 projects to date, chosen by locals, to improve water, roads, health and education. In 2006 alone the DFID-supported National Rural Access Programme improved 9,790 km of roads, connecting 2,800 rural villages.
	DFID is currently developing a new third party monitoring and evaluation project to further increase our ability to assess the impact of reconstruction and development activities.

Burma: Ethnic Groups

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what grants were given to the Karen Development Committee in Burma in each of the last five years; and what the purpose of each grant was.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not made any grants to the Karen Development Committee (KDC) in Burma. During 2007 and January 2008, the KDC received support from a civil society project which DFID part-finances. That support ended in January this year.

Burma: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether  (a) UN staff and  (b) staff of his Department have unrestricted access to all areas of the delta region in Burma where UK-funded aid is being delivered.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) and United Nations (UN) staff are required by the Burmese authorities to seek permission to visit the cyclone affected areas of the Irrawaddy Delta.
	We understand that no request for permission for UN staff to visit the Irrawaddy Delta has been refused since the donor conference which took place in Rangoon on 23 May. Since then every request for staff from DFID to travel to the Irrawaddy Delta area has been granted except for one in June. DFID staff have made at least 12 field visits to different sites in affected areas, and have been able to meet freely with the United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisation which have received DFID funds, as well as with the beneficiaries of our assistance in local communities.

Burma: Overseas Aid

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the Government of Burma on the lifting of aid restrictions in eastern and other parts of Burma.

Michael Foster: In August, senior officials from the Department for International Development (DFID) visiting Burma encouraged Burmese Ministers to extend the humanitarian access allowed in the Irrawaddy Delta to the rest of Burma. Although such an extension has not yet been agreed, DFID officials have been able to travel recently to other parts of Burma, including Shan State. DFID officials will continue to make the case for improved humanitarian access throughout Burma when appropriate opportunities arise.

Burma: Storms

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what mechanisms are in place to monitor the response to Cyclone Nargis of these organisations or companies using funds allocated by his Department.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) staff monitor the delivery of our response to Cyclone Nargis through field visits, reporting arrangements agreed with recipient organisations, and the annual audited statements of those organisations. A monitoring mission will spends three weeks in Burma in November reviewing the effectiveness of DFID-funded projects in the Irrawaddy Delta.

Burma: Storms

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which sub-recipients and end recipients received UK relief aid following Cyclone Nargis in Burma.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not hold records of all the sub-recipients and end recipients of our assistance. The final beneficiaries of UK relief aid following Cyclone Nargis are Burmese communities and individuals living in the Irrawaddy Delta.

Burma: Storms

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which organisations have received funding from his Department to assist in the response to Cyclone Nargis in Burma.

Michael Foster: The following United Nations, international non-governmental organisations and other international bodies have received funding from the Department for International Development (DFID) to assist in the response to Cyclone Nargis in Burma: Action Against Hunger; Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA); Agency for Cooperation and Technical Development (ACTED); Aide Mdicale Internationale; Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre; Care; Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); HelpAge; International Development Enterprises (IDE); International Labour Organisation (ILO); International Organisation for Migration (IOM); Internews; Mdecins sans Frontires (MSF); Merlin; UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); Red Cross; Samaritan's Purse; Save the Children; Solidarits; UN Habitat; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Welthungerhilfe; World Food Programme (WFP); World Concern; World Health Organisation (WHO); and World Vision.
	DFID provided in-kind assistance such as plastic tarpaulins, mosquito nets, water containers and flat-bottomed boats to: Mdecins sans Frontires; Merlin; Red Cross; Save the Children; and the World Food Programme.
	DFID has also provided funding to nine Burmese community-based organisations providing humanitarian relief in the Irrawaddy Delta.

Burma: Storms

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the aid provided by his Department to alleviate the effects of Cyclone Nargis in Burma has been given to private companies for relief and reconstruction work; to which companies; and for what purpose.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not contracted private companies to undertake relief and reconstruction work in Burma. Approximately 4.46 million of DFID's 45 million Cyclone Nargis relief aid has been spent on the purchase outside Burma (mainly from the private sector) and the delivery to Rangoon of relief materials such as plastic sheets, mosquito nets, water containers and flat-bottomed boats. DFID funding is also used by recipient UN and non-governmental organisations for the external procurement and delivery of relief materials, and in some cases for the purchase of materials from the private sector inside Burma. Most small scale reconstruction work, such as the repair of footpaths and jetties, is carried out by community-level cooperatives or individual labourers. DFID does not hold records of all the transactions made by the UN and non-governmental organisations which we fund.
	DFID monitors relief activities through field visits, reporting from recipient organisations and audited statements. Organisations receiving grants from DFID are expected to adhere to the terms of the European Union Common Position on restrictive measures against Burma.

Departmental Fraud

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 1339-40W, on departmental fraud, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's submission to HM Treasury for the 2007 Annual Fraud Report.

Douglas Alexander: A copy of the Department for International Development's (DFID) annual fraud return will be placed in the Library.

Departmental Pensions

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are members of the  (a) Classic,  (b) Classic Plus,  (c) Nuvos and  (d) Premium civil service pension schemes.

Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) currently has 1,640 staff who are eligible to join the civil service pension scheme arrangements. The following table shows the proportion of those staff who are members of the Classic, Classic Plus, Nuvos and Premium pension schemes.
	
		
			  DFID staff who are members of pension scheme 
			  Pension scheme  Number  Percentage 
			 Classic 901 54.9 
			 Classic Plus 87 5.3 
			 Nuvos 55 3.4 
			 Premium 541 33

Departmental Pensions

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many civil servants working in his Department have pensions with a cash equivalent transfer value of over 1 million.

Ivan Lewis: It is not appropriate to disclose pension information for civil servants other than board members whose details are shown in the Remuneration Report in annual Resource Accounts. A copy of the Department for International Development's Resource Accounts for the financial year 2007-08 can be found in the Library or accessed electronically by the following link:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/dfidresourceaccounts0708.pdf

Departmental Recruitment

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many individuals his Department recruited from the fast stream through  (a) the Central Departments option and  (b) the Technical Development option in each of the last five years.

Douglas Alexander: The number of all our current civil servants who were recruited through the fast stream, for each of the last five complete years (i.e. 2003 to 2007 inclusive), plus 2008 to date, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of current DFID civil servants recruited to the fast stream  Generalist  Technical 
			 2003 23 23 0 
			 2004 16 16 0 
			 2005 19 19 0 
			 2006 18 12 6 
			 2007 25 18 7 
			 2008 to date (as at mid-October) 19 16 3 
		
	
	However, we do not have readily available information on the numbers specifically recruited via the  (a) Central Departments option or  (b) the Technical Development option, and this could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government have taken to increase access to AIDS medication in developing countries.

Ivan Lewis: At Gleneagles in 2005, the UK Government led efforts to secure the commitment of the G8 to the goal of universal access to HIV treatment by 2010. In 2007, the G8 committed to scale up their efforts to achieve Universal Access, including providing, with other donors, a projected $60 billion over the coming years. G8 leaders at their meeting in July this year reiterated their commitment to work towards the goal of universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010. The UK Government continue to push G8 colleagues to ensure they fulfil and implement previous summit commitments.
	In June 2008, the UK Government made a commitment to spend 6 billion over seven years to 2015 to strengthen health systems and services which are essential to the provision of effective treatment. Subject to performance, the UK Government has also committed an additional 1 billion to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria from 2008-15 and has made a 20 year commitment of up to 60 million per year by 2010 to the UNITAID drug purchase facility. Both play key roles in supporting countries to access high quality, affordable medicines for the treatment of HIV.
	In addition, the UK Government has worked with pharmaceutical companies to develop a Good Practice Framework (2005) to help support access to medicines for the poor. The UK Government continue to support the right of developing countries to use, judiciously and where necessary, flexibilities available under international trade rules to ensure access to affordable, high quality medicines.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government have taken to assist developing countries to meet the costs of AIDS medication.

Ivan Lewis: The UK Government are committed to work with international partners to reduce drug prices and increase access to more affordable and sustainable treatment over the long term in developing countries. We are working with the World Health Organisation and others to develop a global procurement database that could yield cost efficiency savings of at least 50 million per annum, enough to fund medicines for an additional one million people every year.
	The UK Government launched the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) in May. By disclosing information on the price, quality and availability of medicines, MeTA will help to increase public accountability and improve access to medicines, including HIV treatment. The UK Government have made a 20 year commitment of up to 60 million per year by 2010 to support the international drugs purchase facility, UNITAID. This will help reduce the cost of HIV treatment. This also includes exploring the possibility of a voluntary patent pool for antiretroviral drugs.
	The UK Government support the use of generic medicines where patents have expired, or where there is no patent on the medicine concerned. We have consistently and strongly supported the right of developing countries to use flexibilities available under World Trade Organisation agreements to facilitate access to medicines. This includes using compulsory licences, which permit countries to produce or import generic versions of patented drugs.
	Starting in 2008, DFID will support a new regional programme on Access to Medicines in Southern Africa. The programme will spend 10 million over the first three years to deliver more affordable, quality medicines and diagnostics, including AIDS medication.

Voluntary Work

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has allocated to the Platform2 programme; what conditions were attached to that funding; and what assessment he has made of how effectively that funding has been spent.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated 9,935,381 over three years (2008-11) to the Platform2 programme.
	The main conditions attached to the funding are: a target to involve a minimum of 2,500 UK volunteers, aged between 18 and 25, and focusing on less advantaged young adults who do not normally have the opportunity to participate in such schemes; each volunteer's programme to include a visit to a developing country of between two to four months to participate in a development project, and an activity plan to raise awareness of development issues upon their return to the UK.
	To date, DFID assesses that the money has been effectively spent. Since the launch in February 2008, 170 UK volunteers have completed (or are currently participating) in the programme in Ghana, South Africa, Peru, India and Nepal. Review visits to Ghana by our implementing partners have been very positive. Volunteers who have returned to the UK have developed concrete action plans to raise development awareness, including through media interviews, creating blogs and other online tools.
	A mid-term review of this programme will be carried out in mid-2009.

Zimbabwe: Overseas Aid

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with  (a) the World Bank,  (b) the African Development Bank,  (c) the International Monetary Fund and  (d) the UN on a long-term economic assistance package for Zimbabwe; what conditions would be imposed by the Government on any such package; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with  (a) the World Bank,  (b) the African Development Bank,  (c) the International Monetary Fund and  (d) the UN on an international donor conference for Zimbabwe; what conditions the Government would apply to the holding of such a conference; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: In principle, the UK Government stand ready, as part of a wider international effort, to support Zimbabwe's economic recovery if a new administration shows a clear commitment to change and a willingness to tackle the root causes of economic, political and social decline. Macro-economic reformincluding tackling hyperinflationmust be at the forefront of any reform efforts, as well as reviving the wider economy and supporting basic social and humanitarian needs. There is broad agreement among international donors on a core set of common sense global values which would signal such a change: these include an end to political violence, free and equal humanitarian access, commitment to democracy and to economic reform and respect for human rights. In order to succeed, recovery and development efforts must be led by a Government of Zimbabwe that are committed to reform. The timing and details of any donor conference must be decided by the new administration.
	This is the stance the UK Government and like-minded donors have presented in all recent discussions with international partners. The UK Government are engaged in a range of discussions on recovery with the major international financial institutions and other bilateral donors. Such meetings take place regularly in Harare and between donor capitals. Zimbabwe is also discussed at ad hoc international events: recent examples of which include the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly and the World Bank/IMF annual meetings in early October 2008.